Pokémon: Undead Nightmare
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: The dead have risen, seeking human and Pokemon flesh. Trapped on an island with old friends and former rivals, Ash Ketchum watched as the world he knew fell to the Undead. A small handful of the island's locals joined Ash's group in an effort to survive the zombie plague, but not all of them can be trusted.
1. Ch 1: Didn't See It Coming

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter I_

_I Didn't Know What Hit Me_

"Move along," ordered Chief of Police Emmett Kissinger to the gathering crowd, "Nothing to see here!"

The crowd departed, murmuring among themselves about the scene in question. Kissinger watched them leave, when they got to a comfortable distance he rejoined the crime scene supervisor who was checking on his clipboard, "Okay," said Kissinger, "So what happened here?"

It was a small apartment building, somewhere around the border point between downtown and the suburbs of Faraday City. Several police squad cars and ambulances were parked on the street, their warning lights flashing with their sirens turned off. Several police officers wondered around to guard the area as a few other cops walked into the apartment building to search for clues, the paramedics pulled the gurneys out of the ambulances and pushed them up. Several Herdiers stayed put near their trainers, their eyes scanned the place for anything unusual. The temperature was somewhere around 7 degrees Celsius, not cold enough to freeze, but cold enough to make the world seem peaceful.

To Kissinger, this was just another ordinary day on the job. Well, actually it was night. He had been Chief of Police for 3 months now, so far his new responsibilities weren't getting the better of him. Some days he merely supervise, other days he did the conventional work on pulling people over for minor traffic violations. Crime was at an all time low, resulting in the massive budget cut for law enforcement. Kissinger saw this as a no big deal, because law enforcement was over-funded to begin with was for dealing with a single outlaw. Kissinger don't want to remember that reason, it was too personal for him and his family.

"We got ourselves a shooting case," said the supervisor, "An adult male in his forties had shot and killed his wife and son, he also shot his son's Pachirisu before turning the gun on himself. The neighbor phoned police at least an hour ago saying they heard gunshots, police arrived 5 minutes later and discovered the father lying on the living room floor as all the other bodies were stowed away in the back room."

"Conclusion?"

"Suicide murder, yet there's no motive. We haven't ID'd anyone yet."

"Keep me posted."

"Yes, sir."

As the supervisor walked off, the nearby street lamps came on, illuminating the street more than the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles. It was enough for Kissinger to see a few faces at several windows of the apartment building, but not enough to see further detail. He turned his attention back towards the entrance where they were beginning to remove the bodies, _The doctor must had declared them officially dead now_. Kissinger thought.

It was another case of a sad ending to life, Kissinger new. Whatever the reason, a mother, son, and a Pokémon's lives were snuffed out. They didn't deserve it, but why did it happen? The world wasn't really a peaceful place, which was why there are police officers, fire fighters, and paramedics. People get hurt, others need a hero. Someone have to answer the call of duty, Kissinger was one of those people.

Somewhere nearby, he saw a Faraday City News team setting up their equipment. They fine tune their equipment and checked to see if everything's working, repeating a tradition that goes back since video cameras came to the scene. Since there's little to no crime in Faraday City, there was always a few news teams that come to the scene when crime does happen. If it was daytime around noon, this place would be crawling with more newsies than cops. Thankfully it was almost midnight, and since there wasn't much happening on Faraday Island the major news networks, such as CNN, won't come around to cover the incident. This should be a more local news coverage, which was fine with Kissinger.

"Do we have the murder weapon?" he called out to his fellow police officers.

"We got it," said Adrian, a fellow rookie who was only in the force for just a couple of months now, "It's sealed in a sterile bag and we're prepping it to be shipped over to the forensics lab."

Kissinger walked over to Adrian, who was busy packing a few things in the back of the squad car, "What kind is it?"

"Double-barreled shotgun," said Adrian, "He was using buck-shot shells, fired at point-blank range."

"How bad's the mess in there?"

"A lot of blood and guts, I never seen anything quite like it."

The news people began their coverage of the scene, the news anchor, a twenty-something woman, spoke the usual words in a reassuring manner. The camera guy kept the news camera trained on her, making sure it doesn't wobble accidentally. Kissinger's eyes drifted back towards the apartment entrance where they struggled to get the gurney moving. One of the wheels must be stuck, and the paramedics were having a hard time getting it to move as they made sure one of the bodies don't move in the process.

Kissinger jumped when he heard several bird Pokémon squawk nearby, he turned around and saw several of them taking off in the nearby park. Just small blobs of darkness cluttered together in a small mass flew off into the night, within moments their cries ceased altogether. The Chief of Police blinked twice and tried to calm down, that spooked the crap out of him. Not that he had a problem with birds in all.

Next he saw some of the Herdiers ears perked, they started to whine, then barking loudly. They shot to various directions and started barking like crazy, getting on the cops nerves, "What's gotten into them?" a police officer asked.

"Come on boy," said another cop, "Quiet, you'll wake up the neighborhood!"

The Herdiers began to whine at their masters, trying to tell them something. Some of them walked over to the grass where they scraped their paw on the ground. Others sniffed around a bit and struck similar places, one of the Loyal Dog Pokémon walked over to the bodies as the paramedics were fixing the gurney and began barking at that."

"Shush, Herdier!" yelled one of the paramedics.

"I wonder what's gotten into them," said Adrian, he zipped up his duffel bag and pressed it straight to the back of the trunk, "It isn't like them."

"They only do that when something's amidst," said Kissinger as he stared at the Herdier barking at the gurney, "Something seemed... Unusual tonight."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but the Herdiers aren't alone. The wild birds are acting up as well."

"The Pidgeys? They always act up."

"But not by their sheer numbers, keep your eyes sharp for anything suspicious. It may be nothing, but this isn't something we should ignore."

"Now that you mention it, the air seemed a bit stale. Barely any wind. And look at that moon, it's huge."

Kissinger looked up and saw the moon, it was tan and appeared bigger than normal, "Looks like a supermoon."

"Super what?"

"Supermoon, its when the moon is at its closest on its orbit around the planet a while it's at full moon. I heard it was going to occur tonight, quite a spectacle."

"Is that what's getting the Herdiers' acting up?"

"They're more focused on the ground than the sky."

Adrian shut the trunk door shut, then took a sip from his thermos, "Can we please wrap this up soon," he asked, "My wife wants be back home before midnight."

"Only when we get those bodies to the morgue." said Kissinger.

Commotion was starting to stir over at the apartment entrance, Kissinger turned to see one of the bodies was heavily twitching. The paramedics' eyes went big as other police officers stood there dumbfounded, a paramedic pulled out his stethoscope and checked the body's heart. His face went pale, "What's going on!?" Kissinger called out.

"The bodies are starting to move," said the paramedic, "They seem alive but... I don't know."

"They're moving on the freaken gurney?" Adrian asked.

The Herdiers barks became louder, all of them started to growl at the bodies as they all shift and twitch. The paramedics removed the straps and tried to get a better understanding on what's happening, a paramedic tried to check on the man who was twitching the most. Within seconds, the man rose his head and bit the paramedic on the neck.

"Ahh!" the paramedic screamed as he shot back, knocking over several colleagues in the process.

"He's getting up," cried a cop, "He's getting up!"

The man slowly sat up and got off the gurney, Kissinger's brain tried to make sense of it all when he saw the man's eyes. They were bright red, and glowing. Glowing so bright, he couldn't see the iris or pupils. His skin was gray with a greenish tint, Kissinger recognized it as a sign of decomposition. The wound that killed the man was prevalent, a gunshot wound to the chest. The blood around it was reddish-black, staining the man's shirt heavily.

The paramedic who got bit placed a bloody hand over the wound, as the other paramedics pulled him to safety police officers drew their handguns and aimed it at the man. Cops who were close by backed off before drawing their guns, keeping a respectable distance from the man. Their eyes were filled with terror from what they'd just seen. The suspect just glared at the FCPD, with lips oozing with the paramedic's blood. He just stood there, as if he was taking his pick on who to maul first, "Hands on your head pal!" called out a cop.

"Hands up!" another called out.

The man held up his hands, but not straight up in the air. He had them spread out with elbows bent, then let out a loud alien moan before stepping forward, "Stop right there!" cried another cop, "We'll shoot!"

"How is he walking," cried the doctor, completely petrified in fear, "He was dead, he had no pulse!"

The Herdiers began barking at the man, trying to get his attention. But he was locked on at the police officers, the man just ignored the Herdiers' barks. Kissinger saw the mother and son were beginning to get up off their gurneys, causing the paramedics to scramble out back towards the cops. Their eyes were also red and skin just as rotten as the man's. Seeing the danger, Kissinger jogged back towards his squad car and grabbed his Mossberg 500 from the plexiglass screen mount in the back. He cocked the shotgun, then fished out another shell from his pocket and insert it into the loading chamber.

"There getting up too!" cried Adrian, struggling to keep his 9mm handgun up. He never fired his gun in the line of duty before.

"K," screamed the supervisor, "What do we do!?"

The entire family limped towards the cops with arms stretched out, they moan and snarl as they stepped closer. The Herdiers backed off and tried to growl back, but their courage was already waning. Kissinger aimed his shotgun at the man, whose blank stare had locked on him. Seeing that he had no intention in stopping, Kissinger made his decision, "Open fire!"

Adrian and the other police officers began firing away at the man and his supposing murdered family. Kissinger felt his sweat freeze when he saw the rounds struck their bodies, spraying puffs of blood into the air. It caused them to stagger, but it didn't stop them. They just kept on walking, oblivious to the direct hits they're taking to their legs and torso, the FCN team had their camera trained as the news anchor stepped back. She had her own pistol drawn, but she didn't use it. The look on her face means either a story of a lifetime or full-blown horror, maybe both in this circumstance, "He's not going down," cried an officer in sheer panic, "They're not going down!"

Kissinger fired his shotgun at the man's stomach, the blast knocked the man backwards and he collapsed to the ground. A couple of seconds later, the man rose his head and stunned the cops as he got back to his feet. Kissinger tried not to wet himself when he saw the man's intestines drop to the pavement, spreading blood and excrement everywhere. He didn't notice the mortal wound, didn't even flinched at the sensation, he was more focused on Kissinger than anything else.

"How did he survive that?" Adrian asked as he regrouped with Kissinger.

"Maybe he doesn't need it anymore." said Kissinger as he stared at the man's disemboweled intestines.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe he's still dead..."

_Is that it_, he thought, _He's still dead?_

With that thought in mind, Kissinger raised the shotgun and aimed it at the man's forehead. He took a deep breath before pulling the trigger. The man's head exploded into a red mess, he gurgled and moaned before dropping to the ground over his intestines. Kissinger stared at the corpse for a moment as it oozed bodily fluids, he wasn't getting back up anytime soon.

_Damn._

Kissinger turned towards the mother and son, who weren't fazed by the fact that he killed their relative. They were still coming after the cops, not stopping for anything. If a headshot stopped the man cold, maybe that would stop the others for sure.

"Aim for the head!" the Chief of Police ordered.

The police adjust their aim and continue firing, one by one the mother and son took a bullet to the head and they flop to the pavement. Just when things started to cool down, the son's Pachirisu ran out into the open. It's eyes were also bright red, and they were pointed straight at the nearest Herdier. That Herdier fired a Shadow Ball at the Pachirisu and knocked him back with great force, the Pachirisu snarled and growled as it scrambled back up and took off after the Herdier again. Kissinger quickly took aim and blew the Pachirisu's head off with one shot, the Pokémon tripped and drop down for the count.

With the danger over, Kissinger flipped the safety back on his shotgun, "Get those bodies to the morgue," he ordered, "Someone get that paramedic to the hospital, fast!"

The paramedics moved in and put the bodies back on the gurneys, they made sure they're strapped down tight before loading them into the backs of the ambulances. The injured paramedic was helped into a squad car and a cop drove him out of the scene. The Herdiers started to whine and bark in panic, having no idea what to do. Several cops began ranting info into their radios, informing HQ on what happened. The news team recorded the aftermath panic, making sure not a single detail was left out.

"This is madness," Kissinger thought out loud, "What is going on here?"

The ground churn and a hand popped out, then another, and another. Right in the yard of the apartment building, Kissinger watched rotted humanoid figures climb out of the ground. Their eyes were also bright red, but they were all heavily decomposed and reeked with death. Their faces had a more skeletal look, since half the flesh was gone. All that remained was bone. They all moan and gurgled as their arms reached towards the police officers.

"Everyone get a bigger gun," Kissinger ordered, "We have to defend this place!"

As several officers scrambled to get their shotguns and assault rifles from their squad cars, some stuck with their service pistols and began to fight back. Kissinger timed his shots carefully and blast the monster's heads off, they all dropped almost as fast as they climbed out of the earth. As Kissinger reloaded his shotgun, he couldn't believe there were more coming out of the apartment complex's yard.

"What in the world are these things!?" cried Adrian.

"I don't know," said Kissinger, "But they used to be human."

Within minutes, there were at least a couple dozen creatures popping out of the earth with plenty more on the way. This time they didn't walk, but somewhat jogged. They flung their arms in the air and let out loud moans as they swarm a couple of cops, they scream as the monsters rip them apart with their hands and teeth. Kissinger watched as they ripped off the limbs of his downed comrades and ate them, blood started to collect everytime someone goes down. The news team played it smart and packed up their camera in the back of their van, then drove out of dodge.

The Herdiers panicked and fled, but a few were taken down by the creatures. The Loyal Dog Pokémon yelped and screamed as they were being eaten alive, just like their masters. Kissinger realize they can't stay here, grossly outnumbered by these... Things, they must fall back.

"Retreat," Kissinger ordered, "Everyone get back to HQ! Forget about the squad cars, we're going on foot!"

All the cops gathered around Kissinger and they ran out of the area, leaving behind fallen comrades who quickly became the creature's meal.

**. . .**

With the scene abandoned, the Undead took their time to feast on newly captured pray. Whatever kind of force that caused them to regain some form of life, it wasn't stable. Every undead creature couldn't feel nor think, not even self-aware. All they had was desire, this desire was ironically the only thing that kept them functioning in their former lives: The need to feed.

But it can't be ordinary food, it must be fresh and raw with the blood still flowing. Even though the prefer the former, they go after other creatures for a last resort. For these undead creatures, they were in luck. There was fresh meat to go around, and it was just a few minutes old. The Undead bit into the limbs and organs of the police officers and rip chunks off, then chew them up like savages before swallowing. For those Undead who couldn't find a spot to feast on the bodies, they moved on to the Herdiers and ate them. They don't taste the same, but they're still fresh meat. Pokémon meat will have to do in the meantime.

An hour later, the Undead finished their meals and got back to their feet. As they wander off to search for their next victim, they left behind a horribly butchered carcasses. They no longer looked like who they once were, just scrap from mindless beings' meal. In due time, the bodies will reanimate and become undead themselves. They don't need organs, limbs, or even sensory to live. All they need is a functioning brain to be a living dead, preferably one that's intact. A crippled Undead won't mind being crippled, even though they might not get a hold of fresh meat for the rest of their existence.

Unbeknownst to the horde, there was still some live meat around. Luke Natas sat at one of the apartment windows and saw the whole thing unfold. He didn't react to the massacre that just happened earlier, nor did he even flinch when he saw the undead child get shot by the cops. From where he had been throughout his 45 years of life, he had seen all there was to see in the world. But what he had just seen was new and somewhat original, even though the concept was embedded in popular media for a few decades now.

With the coast clear, Natas left his apartment and walked out into the yard of the slaughter. The squad cars left behind still had their warning lights flashing, they'll keep flashing until the car battery runs out of power or someone comes by to turn it off. Not that it mattered or anything.

Natas knew where to look, he approached Adrian's squad car and opened up the trunk. The rookie didn't close it properly, the strap of a bag prevented that. Natas opened up the trunk and grabbed the unusual large duffel bag, he unzipped it and looked inside. Low and behold, the double-barreled shotgun that his neighbor used to kill his wife, son, and that annoying squirrel Pokémon. He picked it up and removed it from its plastic bag, he held the weapons in his hands and checked the sights, just to see if it can be used.

_Yes_, he thought, _This will work_.

A few boxes of the required shells for the shotgun sat in the duffel bag, Natas grabbed a couple of shells and loaded it. Since the double-barreled shotgun had a gun sling attached, Natas strapped the gun to his back and picked up the duffel bag. He carried the bag back to his apartment where he began to prepare for a seemingly endless day and night survival. When the sun comes up to greet the other half of the world, everyone is going to wake up to find themselves trapped in a dream they can't wake out of.

Of course, that's always expected in a situation like this.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Ch 2: Invited

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter II_

_Invited_

Just 9 hours before midnight, somewhere just past noon, a small yacht sailed in to the east side of Faraday Island. It docked at a small port town of Carson, a small but prosperous settlement just 40 kilometers from Faraday City. A teenager with black raven hair stepped on the dock, his Pikachu sat on his shoulder and looked up at the bright blue sky.

He took a deep breath and sighed, it was quite a long trip from the mainland. The Pokémon trainer stretched legs as his Pikachu stretched its limbs. He reached up and scratched the Pikachu's head. The Mouse Pokémon cooed and awed from the relief his trainer provide, love simmered out like heat from him. The trainer can feel it, it took years to build up such a relationship to get a bond like this.

The two were followed by a teenaged girl with big purple hair and another teenaged boy with short green hair. The girl had an Axew in her hair, looking up and around the town before them. The green-haired boy looked on up ahead for anything interesting to investigate. He stretched one of his legs and loosened some joints, the green-haired boy didn't wanna spend another 2 hours sitting down ever again.

The Pokémon trainer with the Pikachu opened up a map and examined it. He took a moment to study the map, trying to figure out where to go. Even though he and his Pokémon had been to this island before, he didn't explore it all. Faraday Island was big, at least 1/4th the size of Unova, "Iris, Cilan," he spoke, "I think this is it."

"You know who sent the letter, Ash?" Cilan asked.

"Beats me, all I know that it's important."

"Pikachu." muttered Pikachu.

The gang received the letter a few days ago from a stranger as they were having a picnic. The man was strange, he seemed nervous and hesitated on his approach. When he handed Ash the letter, he said it was an invitation to Faraday Island's town of Carson. Ash opened it up and read it, seemed legit. Sort of. When he said he'll think about it, he caught the courier twitching one of his eyes. Cilan noticed this and asked what was wrong, the courier sighed and explained he was new to courier work. His boss was impatient, and so he had to be fast in getting Ash.

Ash thought about the invitation for an hour after the courier left. His friends would follow him wherever he goes, he had earned their trust. Since they had seen a lot of things around Unova, and Ash's familiarity of Faraday Island. Why not?

Ash and his friends waved goodbye to the yacht's captain before heading to the street, Iris' Axew jumped off her shoulder and stretched his legs. He looked around the place for a brief moment before climbing back on her shoulder and snuggling into her hair, "So where's the place?" Iris asked.

"Not too far," said Ash as he examined the town map, "This way."

During the walk through town, Ash glanced at the many buildings of the town. They weren't as tall as the skyscrapers of Faraday City, but just as advanced. And like Faraday City, most of the buildings here were painted white. Besides the advanced technology this island cherishes, the town had a lot of ordinary shops. The shops sold a wide diversity of consumer products, Ash noticed they came from the many regions he visited around the globe. He made a mental note on visiting these shops tomorrow.

"Hey Ash," said Cilan, "Look at that."

Ash turned to where Cilan is pointing, it was a major industrial complex just a 100 meters away. It had a towering fence and several small buildings surrounding a large building. It was under construction, Ash saw the people and their Pokémon wondering around, seeing to tasks that needed completion. As far as Ash was concerned, it was the only thing major going on in Carson. Everything was quiet and peaceful, and not too much noise was being made either.

"I wonder what they're building down there." thought Ash out loud.

"Probably a warehouse." said Iris.

Though Ash couldn't put his finger on it, the industrial complex caught his interest. He wondered to himself why would he be interested in such a complex. Well, there are a lot of things in life that anyone could take interest at random, which was no stranger to Ash. He looked at the map again, his eyes glanced over the destination, it was circled in red. It was conveniently located not to far from a Pokémon Center, maybe Ash would stop by to replenish some supplies. They're quite low on Pokémon food at the moment.

Since Faraday City isn't that far from here, Ash thought about visiting Mark Kissinger in Faraday City. He stayed at his house during the first visit to Faraday Island, he was quite friendly, yet a bit too silly. At Unova, Ash and his friends happened to come across Mark. Since Mark was being Mark, he had his Emolga caused a hilarious situation with Iris' Emolga, which landed them on the front page of Unova's most popular newspaper. Ash couldn't tell where he should be laughing or stunned at the time, he had seen too many unusual situations in the past. He felt he was ready for anything.

Hopefully he won't eat those words.

After making a final turn, Ash saw what he was looking for. It was a hotel, a 5-star hotel. So that was what the letter said to go. Whoever invited him here, they were quite generous in doing so, "That's the place?" Cilan asked.

"That's the place." said Ash.

"It looks beautiful," said Iris, "And impressive!"

"Axew!" agreed Axew.

"Maybe it has a swimming pool," said Ash, "Let's go find out."

The group walked inside and saw how spacious it was, the lobby was grand and high class. It had a red carpet, purple walls, a tan ceiling, and many famous paintings. Ash had to snap himself out of the guise so he could talk to the receptionist at the front desk, "Excuse me," said Ash, "I'm Ash Ketchum."

"Ketchum," the receptionist said, she pulled up a small device that was hooked up to her computer, "Place your right thumb on that scanner, if you mind."

Ash puzzled over that demand for a second, "Okay."

Ash placed his thumb on the scanner, it shined with a green light for a quick few seconds before a beep sounded, "Okay," said the receptionist as she handed Ash 3 keycards, "That's you alright. Head to room 345, you have friends there waiting."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Friends?"

"From what I've been told, you have close friends invited. They should be waiting for you in the room. Don't worry, there's enough beds for everyone."

"Thank you, Miss."

"Your welcome, Mr. Ketchum."

_Mr. Ketchum, _Ash thought, _I must be growing up._

Ash, Cilan, and Iris, heads down the hall, more confused than impressed. Friends, there were friends waiting for him? Ash had a lot of friends, scattered across the world. He had occasionally talk to them on the videophone, when they're available. He even gave a few calls back home to talk to Delia, his mom. Sometimes her Pokémon, a Mr. Mime named Mimey, answers it. Ash remembered Pikachu had a go on a conversation with Mimey for 2 hours straight until Delia came back home and hung up the phone. Ash tried his best not to laugh when Pikachu got a little upset. Those were good times.

"How many close friends do you have, Ash?" Iris asked.

"A handful," said Ash, wondering if it was the truth, "I'm thinking of many of them right now."

"You wanna bet?" Cilan asked.

Ash shot an interested look at the gym leader, "What kind of bet?"

"For every friend that's here, you owe me 5 pokédollars."

"Deal."

"You two." Iris shook her head as she rolled her eyes.

They climbed the stairs and got onto the 3rd floor, after passing several rooms until they found Room 345. Ash took a key-card and insert it in the slot, then quickly pulled it out. The electronic lock disengaged and Ash opened the door. Inside was a massive room, in the back there were 8 beds lined up in two rows before massive windows. Near the front of the room was a 127cm LED TV with two couches in front of it, it also had a nice kitchen with black granite counter tops. The neat decoration of the room didn't shock Ash, it was the people in it.

"How long have you been here?" Misty asked Brock, who sat on a cushioned chair in steaming frustration.

"A couple hours," said Brock, "I'm telling you that I'm..."

As Brock and Misty argue over something, May and Max stood at the corner and watch the whole thing unfold. A Piplup sat in another chair at the opposite edge of the room, also watching the show. The argument stopped when they noticed Ash and co. came in. There was a short-lived silence before Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulders, "Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, glad to see the group.

"Ash!" everyone said in unison.

"Uh, hey guys!" said Ash.

"Long time, no see," said May, "You have any idea who invited us here, the invitation we all got said that the vacation's centered around you?"

"I don't know," said Ash, "I'm not sure what's going on at the moment."

"I'm Cilan," said Cilan as he shook hands with Brock, "I've heard about you being a great cook."

"I am," said Brock, "I'm also trying to become a Pokémon Doctor."

"So what I'd heard about you is true then."

"What Pokémon is that?" May asked Iris as she points to Axew.

"It's an Axew," said Iris, "The Tusks Pokémon."

Axew punched a fist in the air for a dramatic pose, "Axew!"

"Great to see you again, Pikachu!" Max said as he hugged the Mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu." Pikachu cooed as Max rubbed the back of his head.

A toilet flushed before a door open, Dawn stepped out with confusion on what was going on, "Ash," she said, "Iris, Cilan?"

"Dawn?" Cilan and Iris said in unison.

"Nice to meet you again!"

"Dawn," said Ash, "Toilet paper."

Dawn looked down and saw a bit of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoe, she picked it up and quickly threw it in the trash can, "What toilet paper?" she denied, her face blushed.

Cilan nudged Ash with his elbow, "Okay, how many's here?"

"Five," said Ash, "There's five."

"You owe me 20 pokédollars."

Ash gave Cilan a look before he reluctantly fished out a 20 pokédollar bill from his pocket, then placed it on the palm of his friend's hand, "Thank you." Cilan chirped.

Cilan turned towards the door, "Where you going, Cilan?" Iris asked.

"To see what they have in the shops," said Cilan, "I'll be back in a few hours."

When Cilan left, Ash took off his backpack and sat down on the couch, Pikachu joined him and snuggled up underneath his arm, "We all saw what happened here, Ash," said Brock, "About the Tesla Westinghouse thing."

Ash turned towards Brock, "The whole world probably knows."

"I've read about Tesla in Pokémon training school," said Max, "The books say he's really powerful and unbeatable, is that true?"

"It's true."

"It also said he can talk like people."

"He wasn't talking at first when I met him, but he sure talked a lot when he finally trusts me and Pikachu. Tesla has two different personalities, he can switch to either one on a flip of a coin. But once you figured him out, you know how to tame him."

"Where is he now?"

"Unova probably, he asked me to bring him there. So I did," Ash picked up the remote to the TV, "I wonder what he's doing now."

**. . .**

Cilan walked through the market area of Carson, interestingly there wasn't anything worth lower than 20 pokédollars worth buying. Well, at least it was a good bet. Maybe he should have jumped it to 10 pokédollars, he could get at least 50 pokédollars out of it. Cilan just shook his head, it wasn't worth pulling a stunt like that on a friend.

He looked around for a store to go to, and found one. It was a small book store, and on the windows were ads saying there were discounts on cookbooks. That peaked Cilan's interest, he walked into the store to look around. Interestingly, these weren't cookbooks he seen back at Unova. They were local cuisines, completely new to Cilan. The pictures showed delicious foods that were worth trying. He picked up a few books and took it to the counter.

As he stood in line, he can't help but noticed the person up at front. He wore a blue and yellow hat, and greet jacket and pants. What stood out about him was the Pikachu that sat on his shoulder, Cilan noted the puff of fur on his head that needed to be matted down with a comb and water.

_Why does he looked so familiar? _Cilan thought.

He nodded at the clerk before walking out of the store. It was Cilan's turn, he approached the counter and sat his books on it. The clerk scanned the bar codes and Cilan paid the required amount, just below 20 pokédollars. With the books in the shopping bag, Cilan stepped out to see if that person was there. He was long gone, or nowhere in sight. Cilan shrugged it off and decided to head back to the hotel.

Along the way, an ambulance sped by with sirens blaring and lights blazing. It stopped up ahead at a restaurant and two paramedics got out. They ran inside with a stretcher, people looked on as they quickly came back out with some guy in his early thirties on it. The paramedics loaded him into the ambulance and they were gone within a minute. By the time the siren was a mere echo, everyone continued on their daily tasks as if nothing ever happened.

Cilan checked his watch, it was already 5:30PM. He looked up and noted the sun's location in the sky, it seemed closer to the horizon than he originally thought, _Daylight savings times_, Cilan wondered, _Maybe that's it_.

Stuff like that happens all the time. For a longer period, it becomes normal. Tasks are repeated so often that one doesn't notice it. Everybody moves on as the sun arched across the sky everyday, expecting it to be there. For Cilan, he had been traveling long enough to not notice this. What's been happening since he was following Ash? Did the world care to take a step back and look at the fine details? Maybe. Maybe not... If the world doesn't, then that was what everybody calls normal. You go with the flow.

He stuck a few coins into a newspaper bin and pulled out a local newspaper. Cilan examined the front page and saw there was a major food shortage going on in Sinnoh, a major drought was destroying the crops there. Cilan frowned, it was just another reminder that the world had its own decisions to make, regardless on what humans and Pokémon think. If it wants a flood, it will get its flood. If it wants a storm, it will get it. Cilan read further and discovered that scientist believed it was caused by an agriculture experiment involving the extraction of water clouds to hydrate crops. Clearly the experiment failed, Mother Nature just won't allow it. The planet itself is alive, and it, in a sense, has a mind. It may be cruel, yet it provides us with life. Some things just have to be the way they ought to be.

Just as Cilan was about to walk off, he overheard a nearby conversation of two men, sitting on a nearby bench outside the bookstore. He could make out a few sentences, which peaked his curious, "I've been to the graveyard this morning and my Lillipup freaked out."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I asked him what's wrong and he just dragged his paw on top of the graves. As we were leaving, all the birds were freaking out. There were some nearby Pikachus that the Faraday Island government brought in, they were also freaking out. I looked around and saw no obvious danger."

"I wonder what's gotten into them."

Cilan stopped and turned towards the men, "Wait a sec," he asked the men, "What's happening?"

The man looked at Cilan and frowned, "The graveyards in the area are spooking out the Pokémon, I swore I felt my Pokémon shift in their Poké balls when I stepped near the graves. There's just something going on that they can detect, yet nothing has happened yet."

"What could this mean?" Cilan asked.

"Could mean anything, but it shouldn't be something to ignore."

A random guy came up and joined the conversation, "I worked for the nearby morgue, and my Pokémon acted strange as well. They seemed scared of the bodies, they just wouldn't go near them. It's odd because they were always tolerant of corpses present, they just freaked out about it this morning, like they saw a ghost or something."

"I'll go to the Sheriff's station and ask an investigator about this, see what he could find."

"You guys take care." said Cilan.

"Keep an eye out boy," said the other man on the bench, "There's a lot of things in life that are just plain weird, but this beats them all."

Cilan walked off and head back to the hotel, he just have to tell his friends.

**. . .**

When Cilan came back into the room, Ash noted the books he brought with him, "Hey Cilan," he called out, "What you get?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Some cookbooks," said Cilan, "And a newspaper."

As he sat all the things on the counter, Ash noticed the concerned look on his face, "What's wrong, Cilan?"

"Some folks over at the bookstore said that something's strange his happening," he explained, "Pokémon are freaking out around the graveyards and the local morgue."

"They are?" Brock asked.

"I'm not so sure, since I just heard about it. I asked around town and they noticed it as well, no one couldn't put their finger on it."

"That's just unusual." said Dawn.

"In other news, I also heard there may be Pikachus around here."

Pikachu's ears perked, "Pika Pika?"

"Tesla's the only Pikachu who lived here on Faraday Island." Ash noted.

"They said that the Faraday government introduced the Pikachus on the island, and on the way back I managed to see a few of them. They keep to themselves, but they do show some curiosity."

Ash turned to Pikachu, "Hear that Pikachu, you might make new friends a while we're here."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered.

"Why did they bring some Pikachus here?" Max asked.

"I don't know," said Cilan, "But we'll might find out if we ask around."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Ch 3: The Dead of Twilight

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter III_

_The Dead of Twilight_

The sun trickles down underneath the horizon, yet only the brightest stars shine underneath the technologically advanced Faraday Island. It was another ordinary night as parents tuck their children to bed as wild Pokémon crawl into their dens and nests, ready to sleep off a hard day. Traffic grinds down almost to a halt, making the streets as barren as a wasteland.

Squad cars were common during the night-time hours, they lumber through streets and patrol the roads, either looking for lawbreakers or deterring them. Every town and city on the Island had more cops patrolling at night than day, and maybe more police patrols than in the major regions of the planet. Despite the massive budget cuts that reduced the police force months ago, Faraday City still had more police than anywhere in Unova. Not to mention the best firepower in the world.

Locked away in the armories of police departments and small town stations were hundreds and hundreds of guns, each. Ranging from pistols to light machine guns, almost every firearm manufactured by human hands and machines were found in these armories. A recent survey indicated that the number of firearms outnumber the combined human and Pokémon population by a hundred to one, rumor has it could range around a thousand. But that was just a rumor. Many of the firearms were bought years before when the budget was at an all-time high, now these overstocked armories stopped taking in anymore new guns. To much of a few crackshots' dismay.

The reason for having so much guns was that Faraday Island was mostly independent, and there were disputes among the federal and island government on whose authority stands over the other. The Faraday citizens think of themselves independent from the world government, since they have the best toys regarding weaponry and technology around. So if there was ever a civil war, or a revolution, there wouldn't be any surprise it would begin here.

It doesn't matter who get's a hold of the guns or technology, only that they'll be used as they were intended to. Just who would remain forseen.

Either regarding local or foreign threats, no one couldn't prepare for this one. Hindsight speaking, there wasn't really anything there. No obvious threats were coming in from the sea or on land or by air, but that was conventional thinking. The Pokémon in Faraday Island, got the first warning since that morning, and now the warnings were getting stronger. Deep within their hearts, they felt anxiety and fear, independent from their minds, build up. It was unusual, their instincts won't normally flare up like this. It kept many Pokémon, both wild and domesicated, from sleeping. All wondered what was happening, when to the average human there wasn't anything going on. Just the usual.

But some sharp Pokémon, such as the Loyal Dog Pokémon, were more specific. They sensed something occurring in the ground, though their senses didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. These "sensations" mostly occur around the graveyards or in the morgues, and they were getting stronger. Every time the clock ticks towards midnight, the somewhat supernatural, somewhat radiological, force grows stronger. And it was not just around Faraday Island. All over the world, all the Pokémon were getting the same feelings, yet humankind remain oblivious to the incoming threat. It was like a freight train at the far end of the rail line, as it comes closer it roars louder and louder, and it won't belong before it reaches the next station. The only problem was this freight train was invisible and producing no sound, it wasn't even confined to a rail system. Yet it was there, tickling a trillion instincts of many Pokémon.

Near the quiet suburbs of Faraday City was the Kissinger household, in the bed of its adolescent trainer, a shiny sprite Emolga sobbed in her sleep. The unnatural feeling of the unusual force spooked her awake, she felt around the bed in a need to cuddle with her trainer, but he wasn't there. She got out of bed and left the bedroom, crying softly along the way.

Over at the FCPD, the father of that trainer just got a call of a shooting case, and so responds. The Chief of Police thought he had the situation under control, even when he noticed how things were a bit unusual tonight. At the same time, and around different times in the other time zones at the same moment, the clock ticked closer to midnight around Unova time. The birds were flying, the mammals were on the fritz, all getting the message loud and clear, hoping it was just their imagination. When the clock changed from 11:59:59PM to 12:00:00PM. Every Pokémon felt like something hit them square in their chests harder than any blow from Pokémon battling or shotgun blast from a human being.

In the desolate graveyards and the quiet morgues, soil stir, body drawers rattled. The victims of the shooting that Chief Kissinger was investigating began to shift, 30 seconds later, every dead person or Pokémon who still had some flesh and an intact brain around every corner of the globe "woke" up.

What happened next caught those who were awake by surprise, and it won't be long for the night side of the planet to react when the train blows its horn when the sun comes to wake them.

**. . .**

The surge protector sparked and crackled, Mark pulled it out of the wall just in time. He swore under his breath and tried wiring it again, and nearly got shocked. His resist the urge to smash the electronic plug box to smithereens, this was the third custom-made surge protector that failed on him.

_Guess the manual didn't work out_. He thought.

That afternoon, Mark managed to get a manual on how to build homemade surge protectors. He already spent some money gathering up the necessary parts, if he got it right he should have a surge protector that can handle a 5,000 joule surge. Being eccentric had its downsides, if something goes wrong it requires countless hours to fix it. Mark had been up all night, just sitting there in the dark underneath the blue glow of his HDTV. His dad wouldn't be home for a couple hours, not that it matters. It was not uncommon for his father to catch him out of bed, he's already 18 years old. Old enough to live by himself.

He already had the money for a college education, his dream on becoming an electrician would be appropriate for his specialty in electric-type Pokémon. Well, this was Faraday City, electricians make good money working here since the demand for them was so high. Mark wondered where he could work, since the demand for power stations wasn't very high in the Island. The fact that everyone produces their own power.

_I'll work something out_. Mark thought in the end.

He picked up his homemade surge protector and tinkered with it for the gazillion time. He found out what was the problem, he hooked the ground wrong. I was backwards. Mark fixed it and sealed up the surge protector, he pulled the plug of the TV out of the wall and the room blackened. Once it was plugged into the shoebox-size surge protector, Mark plugged it into the wall and turned the TV back on. It was working as it should. Impressed, Mark plugged in his DVD player and Xbox 720 into the surge protector and checked if they were working. They function without problems.

"Well that's done." Mark said to himself.

"Emolga..."

Mark turned around and saw his flying-squirrel Pokémon approach, she was crying and shivering beyond her trainer's worse fears. Always that Mark wasn't there in bed with her, Emolga gets scared and goes looking for him. And she always found him in the same place, the living room.

"Another bad dream, Emolga?" Mark Kissinger asked.

Emolga nodded her head as she wiped away a tear, "Emolga." she whimpered softly.

Mark picked up Emolga and cradled her in his arms, the shiny sprite relaxed like heated butter. It didn't take much effort to calm her nerves, "There there," the trainer says, "I got you."

Emolga had the personality of a 3 year old and the intelligence of a 7 year old. From what her background portfolio said, she was an inbred. She only had three grandparents and both of her parents were cousins, and like most inbreds there were biological problems, usually with their minds. Despite the problems, Emolga was the most loving Pokémon Mark had ever met. So nice that Emolga never growled or bit anyone, she was wired to be always happy. And that had its disadvantages too.

Mark sat down on the couch and pressed Emolga's forehead to his cheek, she always liked this. Feeling protected, Emolga stopped shivering and let out a smile. In five minutes she was feeling better already, "I love you, Emolga." Mark whispered into her ear.

Emolga gave Mark a big hug and he laughed, "Awww... Now what time is it?"

Mark looked at the digital clock on the wall, it said 12:30PM. Looks like its time to go to bed, just as Mark got up his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and examined the screen, it was his dad, "Hello?"

"Son," he spoke with anxiety, he was panting loud like a marathon runner, "Are you alright!?"

_Uh, oh. _"I am, what's wrong, Dad?"

"Something just came up, and its going to affect us all. I wish I have the time to explain everything to you but I just can't, you have to figure it all out by yourself."

"What's happening?"

"Around where I am, three shooting victims just got back up and walked. Get this, they were _dead_. They were declared diseased by a doctor, and now they got back up. One of them bit a paramedic, which forced us to use deadly force."

That sent a chill down Mark's spine, Emolga sensed the sliver of fear and her eyes went big, "You're saying the what?"

"We continuously shot at them, but they didn't go down. I figured it out when I took one of their heads off with my Mossberg, that tip helped us take out the others. Then more of these _things _just popped out of the ground, they overwhelmed a few officers and Herdiers before we retreated. I wish this was all a joke Mark, but it's not."

"When did this happen!?"

"Thirty minutes ago."

Mark looked at the clock again, "That's exactly midnight!"

"Now that just jumps the anxiety level," said Kissinger, "Now Mark, son, listen to me. Sooner or later, these... cannibals, are going to show up at the front door of our house. If you see anyone with pale skin and glowing red eyes, they are out trying to kill you. You get your gun and find safety. I'm sorry son, you're on your own. I wish I'm there for you, but there's no way I can get home."

Mark changed the channel on the TV to Faraday City News, it showed several officers shooting at red-eyed people on the screen, "I just turned on the TV, and saw what you've seen. They're Undead."

"Undead?" Kissinger asked.

"A preferable term other than _zombie_," Mark glanced at Emolga, who was shivering again, "Dad, whatever happens, I love you."

"I love you too, son." said Kissinger.

"What about grandpa?"

"He's heading over here to the main station, but don't risk it. The streets are already crawling with these Undead between the main station and our house. Mark, get out of the city and find safety, I'll try find you after all this blows over."

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, son. And be careful."

Mark hanged up the phone and stared at it for a moment, then glanced at Emolga, "Emolga," said Mark, "I think we had been dropped into the Twilight Zone."

"Emolga?" Emolga asked.

"The world had changed. Come on, let's get ready."

Mark had done a bit of research on the Undead months before, and knew exactly what to do. Since there may be Undead ravaging downtown, it won't be long before they shamble into the suburbs. Mark had at least 7 hours before sunrise, where the initial Undead outbreak goes into full swing. There was plenty that could be done. Before Mark would leave his house for good, he would have to prepare it, just in case he and his family would ever come back.

He sat Emolga down on the couch and head upstairs, Mark gathered up all of his and his dad's dirty laundry and shoved them all in the basket. Then took it downstairs where he shoved all the whites in the washing machine – added the detergent, softener, and bleach – before setting it to wash for 50 minutes. As the washing machine runs, Mark gathered up all the trash in the house and sorted it all out. He took all the food scraps and carried it over to the garage, where he dumped lime into it. That way, when the food smell, it doesn't attract any scavengers or Undead. Same reason why he was washing the laundry, so their scent doesn't attract any zombies whatsoever. With the food scraps taken care of, Mark sealed it up in a plastic bag before shoving it into the blue food scrap bin, then took it inside the garage where he taped it shut.

Mark washed his hands before assessing the food situation, thankfully there wasn't much perishable foods in the refrigerator. His dad valued canned goods, and there was a lot of canned goods in the pantry. The only thing perishable were bread, milk, eggs, cheese, condiments, and butter. Mark grabbed a cooler and carefully placed it all inside the cooler. He took it to his old pickup truck and stashed it in the truck.

Next he got out a couple of boxes and stashed them with canned goods, just when he filled at least 5 of them the pantry was almost empty, and the washing machine was done washing the whites. He moved on taking the white laundry out and shoved it into the dryer before adding in the color. With a bit of detergent and softener added, he started up the washing machine before turning on the dryer. Mark went back to the boxes of food and carried them out into the garage, he stashed it one by one into the trunk, taking up half the available space. When he was done, he was sweating profusely.

_Smell, _Mark remembered, _Take care of the smell._

Mark went back to the living room where Emolga was shivering with fright, he picked up Emolga and held him close, "We're going to need to reduce our smell profile." he told her.

Emolga nodded, seemingly not sure what Mark meant.

He took her back to the bedroom and opened up a drawer, and pulled out some special shampoo. This kind of shampoo doesn't provide a nice odor like conventional shampoo, its designed so that when applied, it kills the bacteria responsible for really bad body odor. In turn, reducing the smell profile so that the wind doesn't pick it up and carried it over to unsuspecting Undead hordes. Mark sat his phone and two Poké balls on the bed and took Emolga into the bathroom, where he stripped down to his limey birthday suit before hopping into the shower.

The Sky Squirrel had seen her trainer naked many times before, so it wasn't a surprise when he took her in the shower with him. He coated Emolga's body and his own with the special shampoo, once it was well lathered he turned on the shower and washed it off. Mark took his time in enjoying the instant hot shower, cause it may be a while before he would ever used one again. As Emolga washed herself down, Mark grabbed his clothes and dropped it into the shower, then add the soap to them. He made sure they all get washed and well soaked in the water, then squeeze out most of it out before tossing them aside. Moments later, they were done.

After drying themselves off, Mark head over to the bedroom and dropped Emolga on the bed. After putting on some clean boxers and a white undershirt, he opened up his closet and peered inside. He grabbed a green sweater and camouflaged pants, Mark put on the pants before grabbing the Kevlar vest. Being the son of a police officer, especially one whose the Chief of Police, gave him a lot of perks. So when he heard he can get expensive high-quality body armor for half the price, it was too good to resist. Mark puts it on, it fits comfortably. It might even help keep in heat as well as keep out stray bullets, it was a cold night he last heard.

After slipping on some socks and steel-toed combat boots, Mark went back to the bathroom and grabbed his used laundry. He took it downstairs and saw the whites were done drying, he took out the whites and shoved in the clothes, along with the rest of the colors from the washing machine, then started it up. As the dryer dries maybe its last load of laundry. Mark sorted out all the whites from his and his dad's laundry, then put them in their respected drawers.

When that was done, he head to the kitchen and washed all the dishes in the sink. After putting the dishes and utensils in their drawers, he turned on the dishwater and it began washing the dishes already inside it. He didn't wanna come back to his house months, maybe years later, and discovered rotten crap in the sink and dishwasher. Everything must be perfectly clean in the hope that he would ever come back. Deep down, Mark doubted it, even if the world reverts back to its normal state.

He checked the clock again, 2AM, five more hours till the sun comes up. Mark ran back up the stairs and fetched his varmint rifle, after reassembling and loading it he stared at it for a moment. The last time he ever used it was shooting the famous Pikachu outlaw, Tesla Westinghouse. He harmed a living being with the gun, now he was going to kill something that was already dead. Mark hoped it was just a cruel joke that his father wound up taking, hoped that it was just a massive major-effort prank taking place and things would go back to normal. But it was still too early to draw conclusions, he would need a second opinion on this.

Mark head to his dad's bedroom and opened up some of his drawers, he grabbed a couple of pistols and holsters, then strap them onto his belt, "Two guns are better than one," Mark thought aloud, "Emolga will be impressed."

He head back downstairs and check on the dryer, it was done. He unloaded it and put the clean laundry back in their drawers, at least that seemingly wasteful task was done. Mark grabbed his backpack and stuffed it full of ammo clips, along with some bottled water. Satisfied with his stuff, he put on his green sweater and then head back downstairs. He went into the utility closet and shut off the water heater, then head outside to turn off the gas and power. When Mark got back in, Emolga ran down the stairs in panic. When she leaped into Mark's arms, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon crawled back on his shoulder. Mark fished out his cell phone again and dialed a number, "Hello?" said a tired voice.

"Henry," Mark spoke into the phone, "This is Mark."

"Why are you calling me this late in the night?"

"Turn on your TV and tune it to the news, you'll see why."

Mark waited at least a minute before a reply, "Is this real?"

"My dad confirmed it," said Mark, "Where your folks, Henry?"

"They're in Hoenn for their vacation... Oh sh*t!"

"Henry, gather up all the food and water you can and come over to my house. Bring your Pokémon with you, okay?"

"Got it."

"Once you're on your way over here, keep a lookout for anyone with bright red eyes. Got that?"

"Yes, I got it. I'll be over soon."

When Henry hung up, Mark dialed in Carley's number and told her the same thing.

**. . .**

Pikachu's eyes shot wide open and gasped, his body was covered in a cold sweat. Trying not to wake up his trainer, Pikachu slithered out of Ash's arms and jumped down on the floor. He grabbed his chest, a frightful feeling was strangling his heart. As his heart screamed for fear, his brain screamed for attention. The Mouse Pokémon's instincts made him glanced at the massive hotel windows, heavy curtains were draped over them to prevent ambient light from getting in and muffle out some noise. But that didn't mean things outside aren't ignored so easily.

He couldn't tell what woke him up, maybe it was the delicious Poké blocks Dawn had served earlier were starting to come back up. On some occasions, a while he and Ash was traveling with her, Pikachu somehow got bad heart burn from Poké blocks that weren't made just right. On one worse occasion, it gave him diarrhea. When it all came out, it was both humorous for the other Pokémon and horrifying to Ash and his friends. However, that wasn't the case this time.

Something wasn't right, and Pikachu knew it. He turned towards Piplup, who was cradled in Dawn's arms. He had an uneasy look on his face. Axew showed the same thing, his eyes were squinting hard and was already producing a cold sweat. Amazing that he hadn't woken up yet. Pikachu turned towards the digital clock on the wall, its bright LED numbers read midnight. The Mouse Pokémon held back the urge to groan, he didn't wanted to wake up his friends.

Pikachu walked over to the bathroom on his hind legs and jumped on top of the sink, he grabbed a towel and dried himself from his cold sweat. It took him a moment to dry it all off, but his fur still felt soaked. It felt like he got out of a pool inside of a refridgerator, but he didn't feel cold. He would really love a back scratch right now, that should help with his anxiety...

_Anxiety_, Pikachu thought, _Is that what it was? Hmm, why _am _I so anxious?_

He held that thought as he jumped back down on the floor and walked on all fours back to Ash's bed, but just half way he sensed something. His ears twitched as he homed in on the almost faint noise, it was coming from outside. Pikachu crawled towards the massive windows and peaked on the other side of the curtains.

There, right at the street below. A man was into something underneath a bright yellow-orange streetlight, Pikachu's curiosity peaked, wondering what he was into. The man turned – and looked directly at him. The man's eyes were bright florescent red and his skin was gray as clay, his jaw oozed crimson blood that glistened underneath the light of the street lamp. The stuff of horrors.

Pikachu wished he hadn't seen what he was holding, it looked like what was left of another Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon wished he wasn't that observant, he hoped it wasn't another Pikachu until the beast in human form dropped it. Revealing a lightning bolt tail that was unique _only _to Pikachus. The unrecognizable lump of meat was still oozing blood, indicating it was fresh since the heart still beats for a moment after a quick and sudden death... It oozed to the point where it pooled over the asphalt.

Pikachu's heart was racing now, he tried to move but couldn't. His muscles had locked up from fright, as he and the man stared at each other for a full minute...

Finally the man slowly shifts his head back towards his kill, Pikachu noticed a large bite mark on his neck. It blended well with his clothing and hair for a moment until the change of angle gave it away. The man picked the remains back up and resumed his feast, paying no more attention to Pikachu. When the spur of the moment passed, Pikachu stepped away from the window and returned his attention back to his friends. They all slept peacefully, but not the other Pokémon.

Pikachu climbed back into bed and cuddled against Ash's side, his trainer unconsciously wrapped an arm around him as he let out a small snore. Still scared out of his mind, Pikachu closed his eyes and tried to fall back to sleep. He was successful, but just barely. He couldn't stop seeing red.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Ch 4: The Dead of Sunrise

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter IV_

_The Dead of Sunrise_

Ash woke up when his internal clock rang, he sat up and stretched his limbs. It was a nice sleep, which was always great. He glanced at Pikachu and saw he was still sleeping, nicely cuddled in the bed. Ash scratched the back of Pikachu's head, his ears twitched before he looked up at him, "Morning, Pikachu." Ash whispered.

"Pikachu." Pikachu cooed sluggishly.

Ash got up and head straight for the bathroom, after taking a quick shower he got dressed and walked out to find his other friends were starting to stir. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, a blue screen appeared with the small words _No Signal_, at the center, "Satellite's out?" Ash thought out loud.

"What?" Brock muttered.

"Hey Brock, looks like the TV's broken."

Brock got out of bed and approached the TV, "That's a surprise, it was working just fine yesterday."

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked as she stirred.

"The TV's not getting any signal," said Ash, "Look."

Brock took the remote from Ash, after pressing a few buttons the screen didn't changed, "Down for maintenance I suppose."

"The TV's not working?" Misty asked as she got up.

"Not working." said Ash.

Cilan got up and stretched his legs, and saw what was going on with the TV, "The TV _is _working, it's just not getting any signal."

"It's a satellite system," said Ash, "Maybe something's wrong with the satellite dish."

"Here," said Cilan, "Let me try calling the main desk and ask them about it."

"Okay, sure."

Cilan picked up the hotel phone and pressed 0 for the main desk, "No dial tone," he said, "Phone's out as well."

"This is a 5-star hotel." complained Max.

"All hotels get such problems, Max." said May.

"Oh."

Cilan pulled back the curtains of the window, letting in enough sunlight that knocked out the sleep out of everybody, "At least it's a beautiful day outside."

"True," said Ash, "There's so much to see in this town, we can't spend all that time here."

One by one, everyone took turns getting dressed in the bathroom. Within an hour, everyone was washed and dressed in their usual attire. Pikachu climbed up on Ash's shoulder, his trainer noticed the mouse Pokémon wasn't showing much enthusiasm, "Still sleepy, Pikachu?" he asked.

Pikachu nodded with droopy eyes, "Pika."

"So," said Brock, "What's the plan for today?"

"Either get caught up on things or check out some hot spots in town," said Iris, "Maybe even the island if we have a bus."

"Or a subway." Cilan added.

Iris frowned, "If there is one."

"Axew." her Tusks Pokémon muttered.

Ash jumped when he heard a loud thud from the hotel door, Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and onto the arm of the couch, standing on his hind legs. Everyone else quickly took noticed, they all turned their attention towards the door and cautiously held their ground, "What was that?" Iris asked.

Dawn approached the hotel door and looked through the peephole, "I don't see anybody."

She unlocked the door and opened it, "Nobody's-"

**. . .**

Dawn was cut off when a man stormed in, he bit Dawn on the arm until it bleed. She ripped away and screamed, everyone watched as they were stunned and confused by the unfolding events. She kicked him back and tried to slam the door shut, but the man bashed the door wide open and knocked Dawn to the floor, "What in the!?" Brock tried to say, but his voice got caught by shock.

Pikachu recognized it was the man from last night, this time he was covered in more blood and his skin more deteriorated. He wasn't human, it wasn't human. Whatever it was that ate the helpless Pikachu, it was now trying to eat Dawn. Ash's Pikachu's heart started racing almost as fast as his thoughts. He felt his blood drop out of his head and into his body, he fought to stay conscious, "Who is he," cried Misty, "What's wrong with his skin, and his eyes!?"

"Back off!" warned Ash.

The man just let out a monstrous groan as he stuck his arms towards Ash. With no time to think, Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the creature as it tried to go after Dawn. The blast of electricity caused the man's head and limbs to violently jerk, when the yellow light ceased the man stumbled back and dropped to the floor.

Brock and Ash got up to Dawn's aid, who clentched at her bleeding arm, "Dawn," cried Brock, "What happened!?"

"He bit me," cried Dawn, "It hurts so much!"

As they helped Dawn up, Piplup stood there motionless. His eyes were wide with horror and his muscles stiffened from it as he watched his trainer suffer like a helpless child. Pikachu stood there, trying his best not to cry. He couldn't look at the others' expression, the Mouse Pokémon assumed it was just as bad.

Cilan moved in and grabbed the First Aid Kit, then handed it to Brock where he put his doctor training to good use. He doused the bite with alcohol, Dawn gasped from the sting but held back her scream. Seeing her blood all over her clothes and the floor made Pikachu squirm, it was sickening to look, "You'll be alright Dawn," said Brock as he helped her back on her feet, "You'll be alright."

"What happened?" Max asked.

Pikachu turned and saw May had her hand covering Max's eyes, he managed to push her hand out and saw the blood. He wisely moved it back over his eyes to prevent seeing anymore. Axew hid itself in Iris' hair as she protected him.

The man stirred, then started getting back up. He let out a moan, then a snarl as he struggled to get back on his feet, Ash and Brock managed to get Dawn out of there just in time, "Pikachu," cried Ash, "Use your Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu took a deep breath and made his cheeks spark, "Pikachu!"

Another blast of yellow electricity struck the man once again, but this time it was more powerful. Pikachu put all of his energy into it, he unloaded so much voltage that the smell of ozone was prevalent. He was so scared that he didn't know when to stop, then he heard the loud pop. Pikachu opened his eyes and saw the man's head burst, shooting blood and fire in all directions as he drop to the floor again. The sight stopped the Thunderbolt and the light show was over.

"Whoa!" cried Brock.

Pikachu gasped as he grabbed his cheeks, _Oh no... No, no, no, no, I just killed another living being!_

He harmed people before, but never intended to kill them. This was a major "shock" for Pikachu, realizing he killed made his stomach turn. He jumped to the floor and ran for the bathroom where he hurled his last night's dinner into the toilet, it took about a minute before he was done, "Pikachu!" cried Ash.

He felt his trainer picked him up and turned him so their eyes would meet, "Pikachu, easy now!"

"Pikachu!" sobbed the Pokémon.

Ash ripped some toilet paper off the roll and wiped Pikachu's mouth from vomit, then tossed it in the toilet and flushed it, "It's okay buddy," said Ash, "Everything's going to be fine."

When they returned to the group, Brock examined the corpse, "His skin's all rotten and he smells awful," he noted, "But that's impossible!"

"Why?" Misty asked.

Brock turned and looked at her, "Because that only happens when you're dead. Look, there's little blood pouring out of his head... Wait a second," Brock pulled off the man's shoes and socks off, "Look."

The man's feet were dark brown at the soles and the skin was red on the rest, "That's where all the blood went, but that couldn't be."

"Explain, Brock." said Cilan, wanting more information.

"When the heart stops pumping, blood stops circulating. So gravity causes the blood to settle at the lowest parts of the body, this guy was standing when he attacked Dawn but it looks like he was standing for hours."

"Conclusion?"

Brock frowned, "This guy may already be dead, but kept on walking."

Cilan's eyes went wide open, "No, no. Dead people don't just get up and walk, that just can't happen. It can't!"

"What other solution can you figure out?"

"Hey guys," said Misty, "I hate to interrupt your autopsy but Dawn's hurt and we need to get her to the Pokémon Center."

"Right," said Ash, "But what about the body?"

"Leave it," said Brock, "Let's grab our things and get outta here!"

Everyone grabbed their backpacks and put them on, Misty grabbed Dawn's backpack and helped her put it on. Brock got strapped into his backpack and took a deep breath, "Everyone ready?"

"Yeah," said May, "Let's go."

"You ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

The Mouse Pokémon nodded sheepishly as he tried not to look at the body again.

**. . .**

Ash held back his emotions in what just happened, but his Pikachu knew what he really feels. Understandably he was trying to defend Dawn, but he didn't really intended to kill the guy. The smell of the corpse was horrid, Ash wondered if the guy was really dead before hand. He didn't object to Brock's conclusion, Ash had his encounter with the Undead before. But that was only ghosts and mummies, not actual "zombies."

_Zombies_, Ash thought, _Is that what they are?_

The last time he thought he saw zombies was when Team Rocket came out of some muck, but they were alive with blood flowing. Most of the blood this guy had went to his legs, which explained why he wasn't bleeding from the skull. Pikachu got on Ash's shoulder without a word, Misty picked up Piplup since Dawn was in no condition to carry him. Everyone else was barely prepared, nobody really knew what to expect.

"Let's go." said Brock.

He held Dawn up with his shoulder as the group followed behind, when they walked into the hall they saw a few doors barged into. All of them were forced-entry, and there were mutilated bodies inside. Ash pretended he didn't notice, but the shock was still there. The group reached the elevator and he pressed the down button, after waiting a few seconds nothing happened, "Elevator's down." said May.

"Then let's take the stairs." said Cilan.

Just as the group approached the stairs, Brock noticed something, "Hey Cilan, help Dawn for a minute. Will you?"

"Sure Brock, why?"

When Cilan took Dawn's weight, Brock approached the red cabinet on the wall and opened it. He reached in and pulled out a fire ax, he held it up for all to see and smirked, "Ax me a question."

"What's with the fire ax?" Ash asked, almost smirking himself.

"Whatever these things are, they're monsters in human form. This would help if there's more of them, and they get too close."

Ash nodded and the group continued downstairs, when they reached the lobby the glass doors were smashed off their hinges and lay flat on the floor. Right near the front door was another one of those things, eating a freshly slain course. The creature looked up and groaned, its eyes were bright red. It had a bite mark on its neck, with blood trails that slip down his uniform. It was bleeding heavily at some point, but no longer. Like the man that attacked Dawn, his skin was a palish gray and already rotting. He was wearing a police uniform, but was no longer an officer of the law. Just a husk being used by a force not so understood.

When he got back to his feet, he staggered as he came after the group, swinging a baton in one of his flailing arms a while snarling like the creature he became. Brock stepped forward and waited for the right moment. When the thing neared, he swung the fire ax into the creature's forehead and smashed it in. The monster wearing the police uniform dropped instantly.

"Look's like we can't count on the police." said Brock.

Right at the officer's belt, Ash saw a 9mm handgun. It looked like it hadn't been used since he was zombified. At first he rejected the gun, he didn't like firearms. He had them pointed at him and he was almost shot by them. Pikachu was afraid at firearms, nearly being shot himself as well. He was just about to move on when he heard a scream outside, followed by the sound of meat being torn and tenderized. That was all the convincing As needed.

He dropped down, his Pikachu nearly fell over as he undid the belt and freed the gun and holster from the corpse. His actions shocked some of his friends, "What are you doing, Ash!?" Misty was the first to ask.

"I'm not so sure," said Ash as he fitted the holster of the gun to his belt, "And I don't like it."

"You know how to use that?" Brock asked.

"As long as I've stared down the barrel, Brock." said Ash coldly.

Ash held up the gun and checked the magazine, it held 17 rounds. That's more than enough, he slipped it back into the stock and checked the sights, "This will take a while in getting used to."

He noticed Pikachu was shivering at the sight of the gun, Ash quickly holstered it before stroking the Mouse Pokémon's cheek with a hand, "It's okay Pikachu," he reassured his Pokémon, "I know how to handle it."

_I certainly do not. _Ash thought.

The Mouse Pokémon just looked at him and nodded in complete shock, he was beyond words in trying to understand why his trainer would pick up a firearm.

Ash turned to Dawn, her eyes were dropping and was struggling to maintain consciousness. She seemed to be loosing her strength, but why?

"How's Dawn, Cilan?" he asked.

"I could barely hold her up." said Cilan.

Ash reached into his jacket and pulled out the map of Carson, he unfolded it and examined it, "According to this map, we're not far from the Pokémon Center. Hopefully there's a doctor that can treat Dawn."

"Which way?" Iris asked.

"Down the street."

When the group got outside, they heard a faint attack siren blaring. There were explosions, along with some gunshots. Smoke was rising up in several areas into what was actually a beautiful morning, how reassuring that the apocalypse occurred on a bright sunny Monday morning. Ash looked around and saw several blood spatters and cars with smashed windows, something had been through here and left quite a mess.

"Oh this is bad." said Max.

The group started a small jog down the street as Ash led the way, he periodically glanced at the map as he tried to navigate the streets. It wasn't pretty, blood, broken glass, smashed cars, and even the occasional dead body, tried to eat at his mind. The world had changed, and it changed on him. He thought that the good of the world kept society in place. The people here were friendly and caring, Ash saw no signs of that as he and his friend jogged down the street. All around him, everyone just became desperate and scared from something that happened... Overnight?

_This doesn't make any sense_. Ash thought.

He made another turn, without warning a door burst open and a man ran out. Just before Ash could call out, a Timburr leaped out behind the man and bit him on the neck. He skidded to the stop and watched as the Pokémon devoured part of the man's neck, the victim gurgled and lost his breath with a disturbing hiss. His eyes drift off towards the wreckage of the buildings in front of him, before rolling to a side.

"This is lunacy!" Cilan cried.

The Timburr had red eyes and was covered in grotesque wounds and blood, its belly was ripped out, exposing what was left of his internal organs. Ash pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the Timburr's shoulder, he held his breath and kept a firm grip on the handle. Once his sights were lined up, he squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked back as it expelled a round out the barrel in lighting fast speed, Ash jumped as he felt Pikachu flinched.

_Keep your cool, Ash_. He told himself.

The round struck the Timburr where Ash aimed, it knocked him back and smashed his back against the wall of the building. It groaned in a loud alien voice, listening closely Ash can hear a hint of what the Timburr's voice was like before it... Turned. The Undead Timburr turned his red eyes towards Ash and let out another groaned, he aimed the gun up again, this time between the eyes. He fired another round, it struck the Timburr's skull and blew half of it off. Splattering bloods and brain all over the back wall as he dropped dead.

"Ash!" cried Misty.

Ash shot around and glared at her, "What!?" He was stunned at the tone he used.

He realized he was still holding the gun in one hand, pointing it at an angle so the barrel was facing the air. Ash quickly holstered it in shock, "What's the world becoming?"

Misty looked away and muttered, "I don't know."

"Is the guy alright?" Max asked.

Ash turned back towards the downed man, he bled from the bite wound on his neck as his leg twitched, "Whatever that Timburr did to him, he's long gone."

Brock approached the body and went through his pockets, he pulled out 3 palm-sized Poké balls and stuffed them in his breast pocket, "Come on guys," said Brock, "He's gone, we gotta keep focused on-"

Without warning the man reached out and tried to clawed on Brock's leg, he managed to jump back and the man missed. Ash's eyes went big as he watched the man's own eyes turned from white, to pink, to red, then _glowing _red. He moaned and snarled as he tried to get back up, but Brock slammed the pick end of the fire ax down on the top of his skull. Putting him down for good, "Sorry, sir," he said, "I wished we could have helped you."

"Brock," cried Misty, "He was just-"

"He died, Misty!" Brock barked back.

"But you-"

"That Timburr got him, and turned him into the monster that attacked Dawn and the cop in the lobby of the hotel!"

"What monster!?"

A single thought came to Ash's mind and he blurted out, "Undead."

Everyone went silent and listened to the chaos that was happening in the far distance around them, they all glared at each other, with mixed emotions. Almost as if they're ready to turn on each other, Ash thought of something and went for it, "Guys," he broke the silence, "Dawn, remember?"

"Yeah," scoffed Misty, "We remember."

"Is the Pokémon Center not far now?" May asked.

Ash checked the map, "Just around this corner."

The group continued, but this time they walked. Ash tucked the map back in his jacket, no need for it now. Just as they made the turn, they saw a wide open grassland surrounded by streets and buildings. It was rectangular, Ash and the group were at one of the smaller sides of it. The other smaller side sits the Pokémon Center, Ash saw how big it was. It was probably designed to care a thousand Pokémon. This town wasn't that small, it was a vital line for Faraday Island's shipping and tourist industry. A lot of cruise ships also came by its ports, maybe the Pokémon Center's size was designed to take advantage of the influx of tourists.

Over at the entrance, Ash can see several police officers trying to fight off several Undead as they came at them. It was a mix of both human and Pokémon zombies, and it was a grizzly sight. They all shot at the Undead in the chest and legs, but that just knocked them back. But when they shot them in the head, they stumble and collapsed on the ground, they get back up. Seeing how to take them down, the cops took aim for the heads and fire at will.

When the last of the Undead was euthanized, one of the officers looked up and saw Ash and his friends, he waved them over and Ash jogged towards them in response. Everybody quickly followed suit, but Dawn was having a hard time keeping up. Cilan used all of his strength to help her picked up the pace, without warning she puked blood on the ground. That caused Brock to freak out, but he didn't say anything.

When the group reached the police, Ash approached the officer who waved them over... And recognized him, "Officer Wally?"

"Ash," Wally asked, "It's you!"

"The guy who saved Tesla!" said another cop.

"I just merely helped him." Ash added

"That mere help was all it took."

"We can talk about this later, I have a friend whose hurt. She needs help!"

"What happened?" Wally asked.

"One of those things got her," said Brock, "Bit her on the arm."

Wally hesitated for a bit, "Take her inside."

Ash and the group rushed in as the police followed behind, seeing that there were no more Undead walking around they quickly ran back inside and locked the door.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Ch 5: This Is No Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter V_

_This Is No Dream_

When the group got inside, Ash saw several survivors in the lobby. Many were quite familiar, he recognized them from the day before when everything was normal. Several mothers clutched to their children, other people somewhere around Ash's age clutch their Pokémon. All the happiness and love they had in their eyes yesterday was gone, only to be replaced by fear and terror from what was happening. But what _was _happening?

When Ash reached the main desk, Nurse Joy was there trying to answer more than one phone. She spoke in a rapid fire language, trying to calm the nerves of whoever was on the other line. When she saw the group approach, Nurse Joy slammed all the phones on the receiver and gave her full attention, "What's wrong!?" she cried.

"My friend's hurt!" Ash cried.

"Pika pika!" cried Pikachu.

"I'm not feeling so good." Dawn muttered as she nearly lost her balance, but Cilan kept her up.

"Here," said Nurse Joy, "I'll take good care of her. Just wait here a with everyone else."

Several Audinos and Chanseys moved in and helped Dawn to the ER as Nurse Joy followed them, Ash watched as they walked down the hall and passed through one of the doors. He then turned to his friends, they all weren't sure what to do. Piplup was almost crying in Misty's arms, he hadn't said anything ever since he saw Dawn got bit by the Undead. Everyone else were just as scared, but had more strength, or so it appeared.

"So what do we do now?" Ash asked.

"We stay here until we can figure out what's going on I guess." said Brock.

"Ash?"

Ash spun around, before he could react he was engulfed in a loving hug. Pikachu lost his balance and fell to the floor, Ash struggled at first before he recognized her, "Mom?"

"Mrs. Ketchum," said Misty, "This is a surprise!"

"I'm so glad you're alright," said Delia, "Did those things hurt you?"

"They tried but-"

Delia cut Ash off by shooting back, her face went from joy to shock in an instant, "Ash, is that a gun!?"

Ash looked down and saw the 9mm handgun was well displayed on his belt, _Uh-oh_, he thought. He grinned nervously and sighed, "Yes, it is."

"Where did you get it!?" Delia asked, her voice boomed with anger.

"Off one of those _things _that tried to take my face off." Ash replied, though it was both somewhat the truth and a lie.

"Did you use it, did you shoot anyone!?"

"A Timburr who just killed its trainer on the street." Now that was completely true.

Before Delia could unleash a banter, Pikachu stepped in and started his. Ash watched as Pikachu unassumingly spoke his version of events, even though no human can understand him, and his gestures made no help to paint a picture of his thoughts. It kept Delia busy long enough for an older gentleman in a lab coat to show up, Ash quickly recognized him as Professor Oak.

"Professor Oak!?" cried Ash.

"Ash," said Oak, "It's you! I'm glad that you're alright."

"What are you and Mom doing here?"

"I was called in to study the electric-type Pokémon that lived on Faraday Island, about a week ago. I brought your Mom, Tracey, and my grandson here, we all discovered that the electric Pokémon who were born and raised here are more powerful than any other electric-types around the world."

"Wow."

"Me and your Mom came to the Carson Pokémon Center to get a few things as Tracey and Gary went out to prepare an area in the nearby forest to continue our research, that was yesterday. Now, I don't know what's happening to anybody."

"Somehow Ash got a hold of a gun." Delia stated.

Professor Oak became confused, "What?"

"Mom," said Ash, "Me and my friends were _attacked_, Dawn got hurt as a result. Whatever is going on, I have no idea. But I do know that people _and _Pokémon are _eating _each other. I saw plenty of that on the way over here!"

Everyone went silent for a brief moment, "Is that what you saw out there?" asked Delia, more calmly this time.

"A lot of blood and guts Mom," said Ash, "I wish this was just my imagination. But its not."

"Hey," called out a voice, "Look on the news!"

Everyone ran to the lobby where a police officer turned up the volume on the TV. The news anchor to Faraday City News quickly sorted her papers and began to speak, she was so nervous that she dropped some papers and didn't notice them, "We have reports of rioting in the major cities around the world, the Governor of Faraday Island had declared martial law when Faraday City became a war zone. We have yet to hear word from the Federal government, we're not sure what's going on but we'll give you the updates as soon as we get them.

"People are advised to stay indoors and avoid contact with those who may be involved in looting or any illegal activities. We are sure that...," the news anchor stopped and pressed on her ear piece, "We just got a statement from the Chief of Police of the Faraday City Police Department Emmett Kissinger."

A hand reached out into view and handed her a document, the news anchor squint her eyes as she read it, "He says... From official reports, and being a personal witness myself, we have come to the conclusion that the dead are coming back to life, and... eating the flesh of the living," she looked up and glared at someone off camera, "Is this a joke?"

"No." said that someone.

"Do we have live footage of what's going on in the street? This is preposterous, how can... I mean, how!?"

As the news anchor went over her documents, footage cut away from her and revealed live streams coming in from one of the many security cameras of Faraday City. It showed several people with bright red eyes and gray skin tackling several people, they all pinned them down and devoured them alive. Their legs kicked as they screamed at the top of their lungs.

Everyone watching the TV gasped as another footage came on, which showed several police officers gunning down the Undead as they came "running" after them on the street. The Undead took several shots to the torso and limbs, but kept right on walking or jogging in an uncoordinated clumsy fashion. Only the zombies who got shot in the head dropped, Ash heard Pikachu gasp again. He quickly picked up the Mouse Pokémon and covered his eyes, but he insisted in watching what was going on at the TV.

Then there was some footage of actual rioting going on in the streets of Faraday City, the police fired tear gas into the crowd to get them to disperse. Whoever was holding the camera for this footage, he or she wasn't holding it steady. It shook and tremor in their hands, adding to the drama unfolding before the lens.

Just as the crowd dispersed, Undead Pokémon came charging out from one of the buildings and engulfed the living Pokémon who were either part of the riot or the police force. The Undead tore them apart with their hands, claws, and teeth, which were either less effective or more deadly than humanity's natural features.

Several Pokémon unleashed special attacks on their Undead counterparts, they were knocked back and took heavy damage. Yet they got back up, and came after the Living Pokémon on either 2 or 4 legs. Some of the Living Pokémon scattered, but a few Undead caught the rest. Guts were torn out, teeth sunk deep into necks and limbs. The Undead feast on them as their meals succumb to massive blood loss. After they died, the Undead pulled their bodies apart to get to every organ they can find.

Ash couldn't look away, he held Pikachu closed to his chest, as if to protect him. Pikachu started trembling again, but not as bad when he took down the first Undead he and his friends had encountered.

"What are they?" Professor Oak asked, having no idea what he was seeing.

"Undead," said Ash, "They seemingly showed up out of nowhere."

"Oh this is not good," cried Max as he hugged his sister for dear comfort, "I wanna go home!"

"We'll get home, Max," reassured May as she hugged her brother's head, "We'll get home."

"They probably stopped all boat travel," said Wally, "That's what happens in Martial Law, I doubt it would do any good in this situation."

"Why?" Brock asked

Wally turned to him, "Martial law is just for human and Pokémon situations, not for the Undead."

**. . .**

She hadn't seen an illness like this before, it looked more like the flu but people infected with influenza don't regurgitate blood. Her skin was becoming pale and her eyes were becoming pink, Nurse Joy hadn't seen a change in condition this fast in... How long?

The Chanseys and Audinos did their best, they too wondered what was going on. Nurse Joy examined the bandaged arm, it was professionally wrapped. Someone clearly had medical training, one of her friends was a doctor maybe? Blood was already oozing well through the gauze. Nurse Joy checked her pulse and temperature, she had a high 40 degrees Celsius and her heart rate was remarkably slow. Breathing was shallow, unnervingly shallow. The nurse held up Dawn's hand, it shook uncontrollably, indicating loss of coordination. She finally removed the bandage to take a look, and saw a nasty bite wound. It had a sickly green moss-like texture around the wound, indicating necrosis. Flesh-eating bacteria? No, flesh-eating bacteria doesn't cause this many symptoms at once. If it was, her arm would had been entirely devoured already.

Nurse Joy went through the medical books and Pokémon Center database for the symptoms, the only diseases that came up showing similar symptoms were Rabies and Ebola. They couldn't be those viruses, those viruses had been neutralized from the world centuries ago. This doesn't make sense, nor does the shape of the bite. What did it came from? Nurse Joy examined it carefully and saw how it arched across the top and bottom, it looked like a bite from a human. Whoever bit her had superhuman strength, the human jaw was remarkably weak. How can any _human _bite penetrate this deep into tissue? Nurse Joy saw a lot of bad bites before, but they were all from Pokémon. This was the first time she was dealing with a human bite wound.

"Someone must be crazy." Nurse Joy thought out loud.

She had no idea what was going on outside or in other parts of the world, all she knew was the police came in and took control of the Pokémon Center to establish a safehouse. Before that, calls were coming in from all over Carson. They all said the same thing, someone or their friend had gotten bitten by "something" and they were feeling sick. There wasn't much Nurse Joy can do. She was a nurse, not a paramedic. The doctors weren't in yet to perform such a complex operation in gathering all of the patients, and the police had other things on their hands on the moment. Until the situation get's under control, most people will have to wait before getting treatment.

But this patient was lucky, her friends fought through whatever was going on out there and brought her here. Nurse Joy noted that she showed the symptoms of what everyone was saying on the phones, no doubt they're still trying to call her back at the main desk. Its a wonder that the phone lines hadn't jammed yet.

The nurse got a glass of water and held up Dawn's head, Dawn sipped the water sheepishly. She was loosing strength, "Who done this to you?" Nurse Joy asked as she set the glass of water aside.

"I don't know," the patient said in a weak voice, "He just came in and bit me without hesitation, Pikachu popped his head off..."

Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow, "Who's Pikachu?"

"My friend Ash owns one, you've seen him."

"I did indeed."

Nurse Joy pried open one of Dawn's eyes with two fingers, "How does it look Nurse Joy?" Dawn asked as Nurse Joy couldn't comprehend what she was seeing.

"Red is all that I can say," said Nurse Joy, "The blood vessels in your eye might be hemorrhaging, there isn't much I can do there."

Dawn placed her hand on Nurse Joy, "Do your best." she managed to say before she closed her eyes and went limp.

"Dawn?" Nurse Joy shook her patient's shoulder, "Dawn!?"

No response.

**. . .**

"So what do we know about the Living Dead?" the news anchor asked Dr. Rosenburg.

"From what we know," he began, "They seemed to have come out of nowhere. These Undead appear to have an insatiable craving for living flesh, preferably the former over other living beings."

"What do you mean by former?"

"If an Undead human encounters both a living human and Pokémon at the same time, for example, that Undead human will go after the living human and ignore the Pokémon. If an Undead Pokémon were to be placed in the same situation, that Undead Pokémon will go after the living Pokémon. Being more specific, let's say if an Undead Scraggy encounters a Living Scraggy and Axew, that Undead Scraggy will prefer to go after its living counterpart and ignore the Axew completely. Understand?"

"Yes, I do. I have another question for you, Dr. Rosenberg."

"Please ask."

"How do you kill something that's already dead?"

"The Undead aren't exactly _dead_, but rather half-way. Stuck between the Land of the Living and the other side. We managed to capture a few Undead and did a couple of experiments."

"What did you find?"

"They have no use for their vital organs. Don't get me wrong, they don't need a heart, a stomach, a liver, no internal organs whatsoever. Though they still use their lungs, but only for vocalization. As in, moaning. They don't have a use for sensory nerves, so they don't feel pain, which we noted when we cut open their torsos to find failed organs with a severe case of necrosis."

The news anchor's eyes went big, "Oh my... Then how do they function?"

"Simple," said Dr. Rosenberg, "For an Undead to function, they need an intact brain. You can paralyze or even decapitate these beasts and they won't die, the only way to kill them is to destroy the brain. The destruction of the cerebrum will neutralize the Undead."

"That's what we figured out when Pikachu killed the Undead that attacked Dawn." Ash thought out loud as he watched the TV.

"Pikachu." the Mouse Pokémon whined, still sensitive about his actions.

"How!?" asked Delia.

"A powerful Thunderbolt. When Pikachu realized he _killed _him, he didn't handle it so well."

"Poor Pikachu," said Misty, "The little guy couldn't handle it in his heart."

"So by destroying the brain," the news anchor continued on the TV, "That will kill them."

"Correct," said Dr. Rosenberg, "That _should _kill them, there ain't no other way."

"Now, where are these things coming from?"

"We don't exactly know where, but they seemed to be coming from the graveyards."

"The graveyards?"

"Those who were already dead before this are coming back, there were sporadic reports of some Undead rising from the graves in Faraday City Cemetery."

"That's where my grandparents are buried... Are you sure these are true!?" There was a hint of panic in her voice.

"Nonsense, the bodies were embalmed, the organs were removed, they're sealed in steel caskets, and buried at least 2 meters underground. I've just went over there on the way to the news station, I didn't see a single Undead or any signs of them rising from their graves."

"But," Dr. Rosenberg added, "What we do know is that people who were bitten by the Undead becomes Undead themselves in a matter of hours."

"What?" Ash asked himself in shock.

"Zombification can occur between 30 minutes or a few hours, depending on the person's physiology and age. Symptoms will be much like human influenza, but massive internal necrosis will occur, which will cause severe vomiting and terrible pain. The skin will become pale – And the eyes will become _red_."

_Dawn._

Ash turned and ran out of the lobby, "Ash," cried Delia, "Where you going!?"

"Ash!" called several of his friends.

Ash ignored them and kept on running as Pikachu kept a close pace behind him, he ran down the hall of the Pokémon Center towards the door he last saw Nurse Joy heading through, "Nurse Joy," Ash cried, "Nurse Joy, where are you!?"

"Pika pika!" cried Pikachu.

He heard Nurse Joy scream, when Ash opened the door Dawn shambled through and tackled him. Pikachu scattered back, his eyes locked open with fear as he watched his trainer fight back what was their friend. Dawn's eyes were bright florescent red and her skin gray, just like the cannibals that attacked them hours before. She snarled and growled in a monstrous voice that barley contained a familiar hint of who she once was, Ash felt his skin freeze when he realized the person who he had once traveled with was no longer Dawn, but a creature who took her body hostage to spread its terrible disease.

Dawn tried to bite him, but Ash grabbed her by the neck and held her back. She flailed her arms in a failed attempt to scratch him, Ash was surprised she wasn't putting in much effort. Maybe there was a spark of her humanity left in her that was trying to regain control, but it was futile, and Ash knew it.

"Ash!" cried his friends again.

He managed to glance at the far end of the hall and saw his friends and mom come to his aid, but they didn't get anywhere close. They all stood there and watch in horror, trying to figure out what to do, "Dawn," cried Brock, "Dawn, what are you doing!?"

"It's not Dawn anymore!" Ash cried.

He was losing his strength as Dawn was gaining the upper hand, she wasn't lethargic like before, now she had unlimited stamina. She growled and snarled louder as she struggled to take a chunk off of Ash with her teeth, he tried to force her off but he had no strength left. Time to take a gamble.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pikachu!?" Pikachu cried.

Ash shot a look at his Mouse Pokémon, "Now, Pikachu!"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked and he let out a moderate Thundershock. The electricity surged into Dawn and Ash, causing them to glow yellow. Ash couldn't move his arms, his motor control was compromised by the Thunderbolt. It didn't hurt as bad as he thought, sure it stings, but not terribly bad. When the Thundershock ceased, Dawn let off Ash, stunned by the surge.

He quickly tripped her and knocked her on her back, Ash got back to his feet and scooped Pikachu up before retreating back to the group. He handed Pikachu to Delia before he turned to face Dawn again, she slowly got back up on her feet. She didn't exactly glared, but stared with a dropped jaw. The Undead Dawn moaned as she shot her hands towards the group and limped towards them, Ash pulled out the pistol again and aimed it straight at her forehead.

"Dawn," cried Ash, "Please, Dawn, we're you're friends. Don't make us do this!"

Ash jumped as a speck of light shot from behind him in a loud blast, it struck Dawn in the forehead just above the right eye. Her head snapped back from the momentum and she collapsed on her back. When she hit the ground, Dawn didn't bleed, but rather oozed sickly black blood instead. Ash turned and saw Wally right next to him, he had his gun trained at Dawn with the barrel still smoking.

The room went silent for a moment, Ash holstered his gun and stared at the bite wound that caused Dawn's demise. He saw how horribly infected it looked, Ash wondered how he missed it when Dawn was on top of him. Then he remembered something, "Nurse Joy!" Ash broke the silence.

He rushed passed Dawn's corpse and ran into the room where she was supposed to be treated, all the Audinos and Chanseys stood at the back wall, petrified from what happened. Nurse Joy sat in the corner, seemingly hurt. Ash rushed over and helped her up, "I'm sorry," said the nurse, "I'm so sorry."

"There wasn't anything you've could have done," said Ash, "You did your best."

"No, something else. Dawn just came up and attacked, I shoved her back towards the door. Then you opened it and she attacked you."

"Were you bitten?"

Nurse Joy took a deep breath, "No, I'm just scared. I've seen bodies before but I never saw one reanimate before."

"What happened?"

"She died just 10 minutes ago, I tried to resuscitate her, you know what happened next. I'm sorry Ash, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay."

"Don't worry, Nurse Joy," Brock piped up near the door, inappropriately with pink hearts in his eyes, "We'll-"

Like old times, Misty grabbed Ash by the ear and pulled him out into the next room, "Not the best time, Brock!" she barked.

Ash turned and saw his friends stood near the door, half were looking at the shocked medical Pokémon, the other half were trained on him. Pikachu jumped from Delia's arms and jumped on Ash, "Pikachu!" he cried as he gave him a big hug.

"You did what you have to do buddy," said Ash, "Thanks for the save."

"Pika."

When Ash left the room, he saw Piplup standing there before his trainer's body. His eyes were wide open with tears trailing down, "Pip?" he whimpered softly, "Piplup? Piplup!?"

Sure enough he dropped on his rear and started crying, Misty came out of the other room and quickly picked up Piplup. Brock poked his head into the hall, pressing on a sore ear with his hand. Seeing what was going on, Brock walked back out into the hall and head for the lobby, "Shhh," said Misty softly, "There, there, it's alright."

Her words did Piplup no good, but made him cry harder. Ash felt his heart ache, he'd just seen the aftermath of a bond between a trainer and Pokémon been broken before his very eyes.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Ch 6: Settling In

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter VI_

_Settling In_

Ash sat there in the lobby as he stared at the TV, Pikachu sat in his arms as he rested his head on his trainer's chest. Someone had the remote and was flipping through the channels, they all said the same thing. Undead, Undead, and more Undead. The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) was in effect, it had taken over all available channels and diverted them to the Federal government press room where an official was going over questions from frightened reporters.

The only channels that weren't taken over by the EBS were Cable News Network and the local channel Faraday City News broadcasts on, they went over their own reports and briefings somewhat independent from the government. They were more interesting and attention grabbing than the EBS, as they were showing footage of Undead roaming the streets, probably getting them just outside their HQ.

Both channels no longer showed the usual array of commercials. Instead, they began showing commercials created by the Federal government, private corporations, and miscellaneous sources on how to survive. Simple tricks on how to create clean water out of dirty water, how to make snare traps, how much food and water to store, etc. There were also some commercials dedicated to advertising firearms. Ash learned a lot about shotguns, sniper rifles, their ammunition, the types of ammunition, and the diversity of both after watching just 10 minutes of those commercials. He sat back and grunt at the TV, a bit amused from the advertisements.

_Who would wanna go on a shopping spree when the world is under siege? _He thought.

Whoever had the remote changed the channel back to CNN, where it was showing some footage from around the world. Ash leaned forward and watched closely.

Unova was the hardest hit, since it had a high population. Sinnoh and Hoenn were holding well against the Undead, but just barely. Not much was known in Johto, a lot of the towns had shut themselves in. Kanto wasn't fairing well, but not as bad as Unova. Someone had a laptop out in the lobby and was looking out around the World Wide Web, he said that some towns in Faraday Island had sealed themselves off from the outside world, only letting in supply trucks and whatnot. There wasn't any official word from the Governor, and Faraday City was a mess. Ash thought about the Kissinger family, wondering how well they were fairing.

He looked over at the entrance and saw two people carrying a body bag towards the front door. Ash looked away, not wanting to know who was in it. When Pikachu tried to look, Ash adverted his head away with his hand. Pikachu didn't argue, he knew what his trainer meant.

Delia came over and sat down beside Ash on the couch, then gave him a big hug, "Don't scare me like that!" she insisted.

"I wasn't trying to scare you, Mom." Ash groaned, trying to act like things were normal.

"I know but, you're never home and I never get to see you."

"By the way, how's home – Before all this?"

"Things are doing well, I left Mimey to watch over things at the house. Now that this... Plague, is upon the world, I'm not sure how he's holding up."

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered under his breath.

Ash held a hand on the Mouse Pokémon's shoulder, his compassion helped his first Pokémon somewhat.

"Is Pikachu alright?" Delia asked worriedly.

"He's having trouble taking it all in," said Ash, "Especially after what happened to Dawn."

Delia scratched the back of Pikachu's head, the Mouse Pokémon looked up and smiled, "Pikachu!"

"I miss you too, little guy." Delia said in a sweet voice.

"Pika!"

Ash turned and couldn't believe his eyes, several other Pikachus crawled up and approached him. They all smiled, happy to see him. Like they knew him or something. The Pikachus seem friendly enough, showing no obvious signs of aggression, or fear. Might as well take a chance on this, "Hey, Pikachu," said Ash, tapping his buddy's shoulder, "Look, other Pikachus!"

Pikachu looked up and saw his own kind before him, he jumped down and approach the closest one to him in curiousity. That Pikachu began communicating to Ash's Pikachu in their own language, Ash wondered what they were talking about. For a moment, Pikachu's depression seemed forgotten, "Where did all the other Pikachus come from?" asked Delia, still surprised from seeing them all.

"They probably help provide backup power to the Pokémon Center if the main grid goes down," said Ash, "Just like the Pokémon Center back at Kanto."

"But Pikachus are only native to Kanto. Why would they introduce them here?"

Ash shrugged, "I have no idea, Mom."

Iris came in and saw the Pikachus in question. Her Axew's jaw dropped, surprised in seeing them all, "Look at all the Pikachus!" Iris exclaimed.

She rushed up to one of the Pikachus and got down to her knees, before Ash was able to warn her to back away Iris grabbed the Pikachu's head and cheeks. The Pikachu made an awful face, but didn't shock her. Instead, the Pikachu thrashed its little hands to swat Iris away like he was taking down a load of cobwebs. All the other Pikachus just looked on, enjoying the show as their friend started slamming its little fists at Iris. The Pikachu wasn't able to do any harm, and it made Iris laughed.

"Calm down, Pikachu." Iris said as she gently grabbed the Pikachu's hands.

The Pikachu violently struggled as he gave out loud grunts. It finally gave up and started panting hard, when Iris lets go of it the Mouse Pokémon fell flat on its back in exhaustion. His friends just sat there and laugh, Axew had the courtesy of jumping off of Iris' shoulder and helping the Pikachu up. The Pikachu took his hand and got back on its hind legs, it glared at Iris for a moment before returning its attention back to Axew. It glared at him for a moment before kicking him in the stomach, Axew fell flat on his rump as the Pikachu ran past its friends and out the lobby. All the other Pikachus laughed again, one of them helped Axew up and gave him a hug.

"That was hilarious," said Wally as he cleaned his 9mm, "Surprisingly the Pikachu hadn't shocked you."

"Maybe it's a young Pikachu," said Iris, "Just being stubborn is all."

"You know, there's a lot more Pikachus out on Faraday Island. Ever since the Island government brought the first batch of Pikachus here, they populated like crazy. Now they're all over the place, living in large clusters in the forest, even near the Faraday Island Power Plant. I wonder how they're fairing now that the Undead walks the planet."

Ash almost forgotten about the Undead. Reality quickly settled in, and he was back in survival mode. But at least he had a moment of relief. Nothing ever lasts.

His Pikachu crawled back up on the couch and snuggled by his side, Ash wrapped a shoulder around him and looked at Wally, "How are things before the apocalypse?" he asked.

"I got transferred over to Carson just a couple months ago," said Wally, "Things went smoothly from there, then the dead started walking. It was just an hour past midnight when I saw the first stragglers started walking, me and several of my co-workers ran to the Pokémon Center where we took over and turned it into a safehouse. We've boarded up the windows and held our ground against the Undead as they come, there weren't much at first. They tend to come at us in small groups, or even hordes. Every time we put them down, we gather up all the bodies and take them around back for burning. The cleanup crews are taking care of the corpses we put down when you first arrive."

"Did you empty the pockets for any Poké balls?"

"Yes, we did. The Pokémon inside were terrified, some were in denial, we just keep them in their Poké balls and let Nurse Joy handle it. What's sad is that there are probably more trapped Pokémon in the possession of their Undead trainers."

That sent a chill down Ash's spine. Wally saw his thoughts through his eyes and looked away for a moment. After a moment of silence, he returned his attention back to Ash, "What did you see out there?"

"Chaos," said Ash, "A lot of bodies, with a few of them still walking. I saw one guy turned into an Undead within seconds after his Timburr took a bite out of him."

Wally's eyes went big, "Within seconds?"

"He got bitten in the neck and died on the spot." Ash stated.

"Wow."

"Before that we saw an Undead police officer eating a corpse."

"Does that explained how you got the 9mm handgun?"

"Yeah. It's in good condition, fully loaded. He didn't seem to use it before he turned, but he did used his baton _after _he turned. I think the Undead still have some mental capacity to use melee weapons."

"That just makes things even more difficult. By the way, did you managed to see the name tag of that officer?"

"No."

"Oh... Okay then."

Another body bag was being taken outside, the officers opened up the front door and the cleanup crew took the body out. Moments later, the cleanup crew returned inside. Just before the officer was able to close the door, Piplup ran straight into the room. He screamed and cried in distraught as Misty, Brock, and Cilan was chasing him, "Piplup," cried Misty, "Wait!"

The body bag must had Dawn in it, Piplup wasn't ready to let her go. It was too soon. Wally couldn't react in time as Piplup blew past him and ran outside into the street, Ash quickly got up and rushed towards the front door, gun in hand, "Piplup," he cried, "Come back!"

Ash and his friends watched as Piplup ran into the middle of the street, the Penguin Pokémon looked around in a futile effort to locate his dead trainer. There weren't any body bags in sight. Odd, where did those guys go?

"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried out, trying to call Piplup back inside.

The cleanup crew quickly came back, around the corner and passed the group in a hurry. Ash discovered why. He watched in horror as a zombie strolled up and tackled Piplup to the ground, sinking his teeth into the Pokémon's shoulder a second later. Piplup screamed in agony as more Undead showed up out of nowhere, Ash felt a hand grab him by the shoulder and he was pulled out of the doorway. Brock shuts and locked the glass door as the street outside was instantly filled with the Living Dead. Everyone went silent as they watched Piplup get eaten alive.

Bits and chunks were ripped away from his body, the Undead bit Piplup's belly a few times and split it open, the Penguin Pokémon's intestines spilled out. Blood pooled around him, along with some feces and food from his gastrointestinal tract. Wanting more out of the small Pokémon, the Undead grabbed his arms and legs and pulled on Piplup until they tore him in half.

Somehow he was still alive, still screaming. The horror and pain he was experiencing kept him from loosing consciousness, Ash felt like he was watching this from a horror movie. It wasn't. He can smell the blood and excrement coming from the orgy, it made him nauseous. Ash stepped aside and held himself up against the wall and breathed, he kept his cool and the nausea subside. He holstered his pistol and sucked it up.

Wally rushed up and pressed a button on the wall, within seconds a huge metal garage door-like shutter came down over the entrance and cut off view to the outside world. Several clicks and clunks later, the main entrance was sealed up tight. Wally pressed another button, the same shutter design fell over the outside windows and engulfed them one by one. Ash heard the echo of all the 1st story windows seal themselves up with the shutters before locking in place. Just like that, the Pokémon Center was secured.

With the initial shock still bearing down on Ash, he turned towards Misty. She was hunched over, her face was quite green. Misty took a deep breath and stood straight, then blinked hard to snap herself out of it, "What happened?" Ash asked.

"They took Dawn away in a body bag," said Misty, "I had Piplup in my arms when we watch the police took her away, he couldn't handle it. He broke out of my arms and chased after them," Misty pointed towards the front entrance, "Then this happened."

The shutters did nothing to muffle the noise from outside, Piplup's screaming was replaced with the sound of what seemed like a thousand Undead moaning simultaneously. Pikachu jumped back into Ash's arms and hugged him for dear comfort, he looked around and saw fear in every person and Pokémon's eyes. The happiness and humor in the Pikachus were replaced with terror, their eyes bulge out from what they had seen. Like his Pikachu, Ash saw the same level of fear in every single one of them.

Everyone knew what this meant. Things won't get back to normal anytime soon. Death was out there, and its minions had the Living surrounded.

Ash wanted to know what was going on outside, he turned to Wally who seemed to know what he was doing, "You know which way leads to the roof of the Pokémon Center?"

"Yeah," he said, "This way."

Ash followed Wally down the hall as his friends followed behind, "Ash," said Delia, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get our bearings." he answered.

Pikachu climbed out of Ash's arms and back onto his trainer's shoulder, he sat there and looked on. His ears were high as they can go, listening in for any potential danger. Wally led everyone up the emergency fire escape stairwell, it led straight up to the roof of the Pokémon Center. Wally opened the door and the group stepped out into the open fresh air. The roof was quite flat, it had a concrete surface and a well-built edge with concrete barriers. When they approached the edge, they saw covering the grass field outside the Pokémon Center a horde of Undead.

There were Undead everywhere. Some of them looked like they had turned a few hours ago, others were horribly mutilated from being feast on by their own kind. There were a percentage of them so rotten and grotesque that they didn't look like they were human or Pokémon anymore. They look like they were covered in mud, but that probably wasn't mud, but rotten flesh.

At the street below, Ash saw the Undead had bunched up around the entrance. They were packed shoulder to shoulder as they tried to get a piece of Piplup, there were so many that Piplup was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that was a good thing, since Piplup was brutally torn apart by raw strength alone. He didn't want to see what was left of Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon had died grief-stricken in what was supposed to be a happy and cheerful life. If only his friends still had his body to bury...

"We should have tried to save him," cried Iris, "Piplup didn't stand a chance, they ate him alive!."

"We can't save everyone girl," said Wally, "Your chance on fully recovering from a lost of a close loved one on normal conditions is almost impossible, but in this Undead nightmare, next to impossible."

"But we-"

Wally turned and glared at her, "But what!? The dead have risen and are turning _any _living being with fresh blood into flesh-eating cannibals. The people and Pokémon you love will drop like flies and come back to eat you in this new world, that's just what happened to my..."

Officer Wally stopped right there, his expression changed as he looked away and out towards the horde of Undead, "How did we get ourselves into this mess in the first place?" he asked.

Ash looked up and saw a gray tint in the blue sky, it was more concentrated near the horizon as the sun dimmed. Nearby, several small bird Pokémon flew up in the sky. Looking closely, Ash saw their eyes were bright red. He gulped, it was just about noon and the chaos from the distance was cooling down. Several fires were still burning, but there wasn't much screaming and gunshots as before. Ash looked at his friends and saw they were having trouble taking it all in, the sight of dead blood and walking corpses was more than enough to drive anyone insane.

He had seen a lot of trouble, chaos, and evil before, but never something like this. Ash thought about his priorities, what needs to be done. With the Undead walking every corner of the globe that can be walked, the entire planet that was infected with life would soon become infected with undeath. There must be a way to reverse the curse, somehow. This Pokémon Center was big enough to hold more people, there was plenty more room to feed more mouths. If Ash and his friends and family were going to be stuck here for a while, they must make the best of it. That also mean someone had to go out to search for supplies and survivors, a risky prospect with the Undead roaming the streets.

"So what's the plan?" Brock asked.

"The plan," began Ash, "Is that we go on the defense for a while. We hunker down in the Pokémon Center until things calm down, then we go out in small teams to search for any survivors, food, fuel, and ammunition. Once we're all set, we go out in the offensive and try to thin the Undead's numbers."

"That's somewhere what I'm thinking," said Cilan, "Hang on, that doesn't sound like you, Ash."

"Yeah Ash," said Misty worriedly, "That last part sounded a bit extreme."

"We don't have any choice Misty," said Ash, "This isn't like we go against the bad guys and win like last time. This time, the bad guys can be _anybody_. Dawn's an example, and a warning. I don't like it as much as you do, but I don't see any other way out of this. Since we're on an island, we're spared from the worst of it."

"So what do we do right now?" asked Iris.

"Go over what we have I guess, then figure out what we really need."

"I recommend getting your Pokémon up to speed on what's happening," said Wally, "If you have the time, call them out and explain to them in your own voice what's going on. I know they may be aware what's happening outside their Poké balls, but they prefer to hear what's _really _going on from their own trainer. If we're lucky, we might turn this into a win yet."

"Okay guys," said Cilan, "Let's get organized and sort this through, I'll handle the food and water situation."

"I'll take care of the other Pokémon." said Iris.

"I'll join you with that." said Misty.

"I'll take note of the medical needs of the others," said Brock, "Oh Ash, where's May and Max?"

"I think they're in the living quarters." said Ash.

"Maybe we can ask them to help out with something, what are you going to do?"

"I'll stay up here and look over the nearby area, see if there's anything worth investigating."

"I'll help you with the recon," said Wally, "I might set up a small station where you can operate at, even get a fire barrel going for you."

"Thanks, Wally."

"Don't mention it."

"Ash?" said Delia.

"Yes, Mom?"

"Can I have a word with you in private?"

**. . .**

"Sure."

"That also means you, Pikachu." said Delia.

"Pika." Pikachu groaned.

Everyone, including Pikachu, left the roof in compliance. When the roof door shuts, Delia looked at her only child and sighed, "Already you've proven to be a leader."

"Um, thanks Mom."

"I know things are now different from before, but please be careful. From what Wally said-"

"There's always a light at the end of the tunnel," said Ash, "It can't go on like this forever."

"No, it can't. Ash, I'm quite worried about Pikachu. He isn't as lively as we once know. I don't know what you and Pikachu seen out there, but he saw two close friends die in front of him. It isn't sitting well in his mind, he's showing some signs of depression. I'm also worried about you too, the sympathy that's taking it's toll on you-"

"Pikachu and I experienced this before-"

Delia raised her voice, loud enough that maybe the Undead heard it from down below, "Dawn and Piplup are _gone _Ash, and there's no way we can get them back! He's afraid he'll lose you Ash, you are the only one who's that close to him."

"I'll keep an eye on Pikachu," said Ash, "I'll figure out how to keep him comfortable through all this."

Delia saw the courage in his son's eyes, but that's not all she saw. She also saw a bit of fear and doubt mixed in. Like most people downstairs, he probably think that the federal government won't come in and clear out the Undead. They were having their hands full in the major cities at the moment. Deep down, Delia got a feeling she may never see home again. And see Mimey again. She didn't wanna think what was happening to him, all she got now was Ash. From the stories she heard about her son, he had come close to death several times. Whatever was going on, Ash was determined to ride it out. He had already accepted the fact that his friends could turn into those _things_, but what about her? Delia didn't know how would her son react if she goes.

"Whatever you do, Ash," said Delia, "Try not to put yourself into harm's way, no matter how selfless it is. If you get bitten, or worse, your friends will lose all hope in survival."

"Thanks for the tip, Mom," said Ash, "I'll try not to."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	7. Ch 7: For Whom The Dead Tolls

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter VII_

_For Whom The Dead Tolls_

When Carley and Henry got to Mark's house, he informed them on the situation. They hopped into his pickup truck with their friend behind the wheel. Emolga held on tight to her trainer as he drove out of the garage and got onto the road. Carley got a seat next to Mark, who take turns with him holding Emolga. Mark turned on the CB radio and the regular radio, news started streaming in at low volume through their speakers.

Henry got out and closed the garage door, just as he hopped into the back he saw several something pop out of the ground. His Raichu saw what's happening and held on tight to his trainer as an Undead climbed out of the ground. Mark didn't waste any time, he pressed his foot against the accelerator and they were out of there in a moment's notice. He glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw the stragglers coming after them, not putting up much effort in doing so. After making a turn, he lost sight of them.

The group listened to Mark's police scanner, what they heard wasn't good. Faraday City's core was a hot bed of trouble, so they pulled out of the main road for an alternate route out of the city. Henry and Carley asked what was going on and Mark filled them in, they had trouble believing him until they saw an Undead father ate her daughter on the lawn of a random house. Now they insisted on getting out of dodge, but Mark made an unexpected detour, "Mark," said Carley, who sat in the passenger seat next to Mark, "Where are you going?"

"I need to check on some of my family first." said Mark.

"Your Dad?"

"No, my Dad's mom."

"But she's been dead for 7 years!"

"I know, that's why I wanna check her grave just in case this curse is messing with her remains."

It was obvious that Carley didn't like the idea, but she didn't argue. She had her own grandparents buried at the same graveyard. Faraday City Cemetery sits at the edge of the city, out of sight and out of mind from the Living. It was spooky when Mark drove down the road towards the area, the environment seemed to be decaying around them. The leaves were turning from green to orange, the grass somewhere near yellow and white. Even though it was almost winter, it gave Mark a chill up his spine. The grass looked dead already.

Just as they drove around the corner, the endless series of trees gave way to a forest of tombstones, locked behind a solid barred fence that stood no more than 3 meters. Upon seeing the cemetery, Emolga started shivering and somewhat crying. Mark pulled up near the entrance and parked the car, "I'll leave the electric engine run," said Mark, "Just in case we need to take off in a hurry."

"Okay," said Carley, "Just don't take too long."

"Emolga!" cried Emolga as the Sky Squirrel tried to stop his trainer from leaving the car.

"Stay with Carley, Emolga," said Mark, "Carley, you take the wheel. If something goes down, we need enough time to make our getaway."

"Okay." said Carley.

"Oh, and lock the doors and keep the windows rolled up. That way no Undead would reach in and grab you, they tend to sneak up somehow."

When Mark got out of the car, Carley scooted to the driver's seat and adjust the mirrors. Mark met up with Henry and his Raichu, who were chilling in the trunk of the truck, "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Henry, "Come on, Raichu."

"Raichu." the Mouse Pokémon agreed.

The two guys and Raichu walked towards the entrance and stopped, Mark scanned the valley of graves for any signs of the Undead. Nothing. He glanced over to where several of his relatives were buried, so far so good, nothing out of the ordinary, "Raichu," muttered Raichu, sounding quite scared, "Rai Rai Rai!"

"Shh," said Henry, "Quiet down, Raichu!"

"Hmm," said Mark, "I wonder..."

Already something seemed off. Mark wasn't too sure what it was, but Raichu somehow detected it. He looked around for any sign of such a disturbance, so far so good. This should be quick without incident.

Mark held up his foot past the entrance of the Cemetery, just before he sat his foot on the ground. Several graves exploded. Mark shot away from the entrance and saw several Undead rise out of the ground. Their bodies were horribly rotten, their faces skeletal and decayed of most flesh. Some had no hair, others had no clothes, all barely had skin. They were all covered in muck and had red florescent eyes.

_Time to go. _Mark thought.

Just before the Undead can get on their feet, Mark turned and ran straight for the truck, "Retreat!" cried Henry as he followed suit.

Just as Raichu tried to follow, a hand burst out of the ground and grabbed him by the tail. Raichu fell forward, he managed to turn around and saw an Undead ghoul just before him. It was mostly skin and bone, what little muscle remained was at use. Its abdominal cavity was open, containing no organs at all. The Undead's face was mostly skeletal, and its eyes were red. That made Raichu fill with fright. He locked up, unable to move, "Raichu!" cried Henry.

The Undead got on top of Raichu and gnashed him at the belly, snapping the Mouse Pokémon out of it, "Raichu!" he screamed in terror as he used Thunderbolt on the Undead.

The corpse blasted back in a flash of yellow light, since half of its body was still in the ground its spine snapped. The upper body landed on the ground, but didn't die. The ghoul just used its hands and started crawling after Raichu, oblivious to the disability the Mouse Pokémon gave him. Raichu clutch the bleeding bite with a stubby hand as Henry pulled him to safety, Mark pulled out his pistol and aimed for the ghoul. He fired a round and got a bead straight through the Undead's eye, the bag of bones ceased movement and died – again.

"Carley," cried Mark, "Get us out of here!"

Mark saw his own grandmother shamble past the gate, he was stunned that he could still recognize her. She didn't look like an old woman, but more like a banshee from the other side. There were no love in those red eyes, just an appetite. Right behind her were several more dead relatives, some of whom were so horribly rotted that they're completely unrecognizable. Not that it mattered, these Kissingers were from another time.

Mark aimed at his grandmother's forehead and fired. Her head shot back from the impact of the bullet, black blood flied everywhere as she dropped to the ground.

The Living Kissinger fired several more rounds at the Undead Kissingers until Carley managed to get the truck in gear and drove off, Mark slid on his rear from the inertia as she drove the truck a little too fast. The cargo in the back pressed hard against him and Henry, but Mark pushed them back. When Carley got it back to normal speed, Mark holstered his gun and watched the Undead try to catch up to them. They couldn't, they all wondered off into the woods before the truck pulled back on the asphalt road, "Mark," said Henry, "I need your help!"

Mark glanced over to Henry and saw he had Raichu in his arms, the Mmouse Pokémon cried as he put pressure over his bite wound. Knowing what to do, Mark grabbed the First Aid Kit from the back and opened it up. He disinfected the bite with an alcohol swap, Raichu squealed from the sting but Henry held him tight. Mark then added some gauze padding over the bite and placed a large white patch over that, "That should do it." he said as he put the First Aid Kit away.

"Raichu." said Raichu, maybe he was thanking him.

"You're a true friend," said Henry, "Just what happened back there?"

"It's just what I feared," said Mark, "Those first batch of zombies that were coming at us, those were my relatives."

"Oh no."

"They were all locked on to me, I almost panicked. It just got real, Henry. We need to find somewhere safe."

"You know where?"

Mark thought of something and nodded, "I think so."

He crawled over the supplies and tapped the back windshield, Emolga got up and slid the small window open, "Carley, drive over to Carson. I know of a few people there who owes me favors, the last that I recalled they had some serious firepower stored somewhere."

"Okay ,Mark," said Carley, "What happened to Raichu?"

"One of those things bit him," said Mark, "I patched him up, he should be okay."

Emolga climbed out the window and into Mark's arms, he held onto her tight as he sat back down, facing Henry as he held tight to his Raichu, "Raichu," muttered Raichu, "Rai Raichu, Rai."

"Emo Emo Emolga." said Emolga.

"What are they saying?" Henry asked.

"I don't know," said Mark, "I wish Tesla's here to translate them."

**. . .**

Somewhere at sea near the docks of Carson, a small rowboat quietly sailed towards the now abandoned docks. It was made out of wood with a small makeshift blue tarp tent. The boat was no more than 2 meters long and a meter wide, it appeared corroded and rotten. As ugly and unstable it was, it managed to survive the trip from Unova to Faraday Island in one piece. A small motor in the back propelled the boat towards an area of the docks where one from the street couldn't see. It rammed the dock at walking pace, barely making a thud. The boat went dormant as it floated up against the land.

The blue tarp tent stirred and a Pikachu poked its head out, it adjusted its goggles and took a breath of fresh air. It was a long trip, having left Unova sometime around 5 in the morning the Pikachu made it to Faraday Island around 3 in the evening. The Pikachu jumped out of the boat and hopped onto the docks, once more setting foot on his homeland. It stretched its arms and legs to loosen up the joints, they cracked and pop. Relaxed, the Mouse Pokémon stood on his hind legs and looked on at what was left of Faraday Island.

_Home sweet home_. Tesla Westinghouse thought as he glanced at the sky, it was filling with smoke from several burning fires and all other kinds of chaos happening on land.

Unova became a world of death when it happened. Tesla was simply sleeping up in a tree when he was awoken by screams of agony, when he went to investigate he saw a woman got eaten by several of her Pokémon, Tesla couldn't tell what they were since they were horribly decomposed. He had sensed something was going down, but he didn't expect _this _to happen. Since Tesla was vastly intelligent, he figured out what was happening and quickly craft up a plan to head back home. He was near the ocean when the Undead started to rise, and he was lucky to find a boat at the docks. It was a narrow escape as there were hordes of Undead slouching after him with arms flailing, and those eyes...

Regardless on how lucky the old Pikachu was, Tesla had no food and water. Hungry and ridiculously thirsty, Tesla licked his lips as he set out to find food and water. He walked up the docks and made it to the street. It was deserted, no signs of human or Pokémon life. Several store windows were smashed, cars completely destroyed, and blood stains on the walls of buildings and other miscellaneous thing that was lying around.

Tesla walked up what he thought was a store and poked inside. The place was ransacked, most of its supplies were cleaned out. But there was some canned goods around, Tesla picked up a can of spam and examined it, "Find water." he muttered to himself in human speech, even though his stomach begged to eat.

Once again, he was dumped into survival mode. He just barely got out of a 20 year survival streak when undeath took over. Instead of worrying about police officers, bounty hunters, and amateur Pokémon trainers, he had to worry about rotting corpses that want to eat him. The thought of it was having a hard time finding a place to settle somewhere in his aging mind, but he already accepted the situation. He seen the worst of what the Living can do, but the Dead proved more horrifying already. He felt more paranoid than scared.

_They can be anywhere_. Tesla thought as he looked back out into the street.

Sure enough, a straggler came limping out of a building. Its red eyes glared down the road, away from Tesla. The old Pikachu saw how torn up the walking corpse was, large human bites on its limbs suggested that was how he turned. Tesla calmly hid behind some shelving and watched as the solo zombie limped away, moaning under his breath.

When he was out of sight, Tesla turned towards the back and head up a flight of stairs. When he got to the roof, he saw a body of a man laying on his back. A 9mm pistol sat near him, the man's head was blown out with blood oozing from his exposed brain cavity. Seeing the bite on his arm pretty much explained to Tesla why the human committed suicide, he was afraid that he might turn.

The old Pikachu looked around and heard the sirens screaming at a far away distance, he saw several Undead walking towards the source of the sound. Maybe they were attracted by the noise, something that Tesla could use to his advantage.

Right now he must stay quiet, he couldn't do much now. He must rest. Tesla bent over and picked up the gun. It felt big in his tiny palm, but felt otherwise familiar. He had used firearms before, long barreled more comfortably than handguns. Tesla was quite a crackshot, he loved firearms – and what they stood for.

_Anarchy_, he thought with a smirk, _You got a problem, a 9mm can solve it more efficiently than a Thunderbolt_.

He checked the ammo capacity, 7 rounds in the clip and 1 in the chamber. Not exactly a Glock, but it would do for now. Tesla checked the body and discovered a ton more magazines in the pockets, he had enough clips to up against _maybe_ a small horde of Undead. Just maybe.

"So much to do you old fart," Tesla told himself, loving the sound of how his voice sounded with human words coming out, "But first, might as well move out to another building and hunker down. I have no strength to get rid of this corpse."

**. . .**

Regardless on how serious and professional the Team Rocket trio had become, they were still far from being true masters of their profession. Now that the Undead started walking the face of the planet, they were caught with their pants down like everyone else. Meowth, being a Pokémon, sensed what was going to happen. But like most Pokémon, put the feeling aside because he didn't know what they mean. He didn't share this with Jessie and James, and still didn't shared it once the Undead started roaming.

To escape the Undead, Team Rocket left Unova and traveled to Faraday Island, thinking the situation was safer there. They were almost right, there were plenty of Undead around but it wasn't as bad as Unova. They came in to the island by plane and saw few stragglers, James found a wide open grassland to land in and head towards it. He brought the small bi-plane down and gently landed without a problem, by the time they got out several Undead crawled out of the ground. The trio ran as fast as their legs can take them.

Now they sat on a roof of a building as several Undead humans and Pokémon had them surrounded, all were reaching their arms up in the air, straight at them. James couldn't believe what he was seeing, nor did he understand what the Undead were. He stood up and looked around for a way out, there weren't any obvious ways available,"How did we get ourselves into this mess?" he asked as he pulled on his hair.

"It wasn't our fault this time." said Jessie.

"Look on the bright side," said Meowth, "There isn't as many zombies like Unova."

Jessie peered over the edge and got a good look at the Undead, she was revolted by their rotten skin and mangled flesh, "Just look at those things, so disgusting."

"Jessie," said James, "Those things were once people and Pokémon. If they get up here, they'll force us into their ranks."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Educated guess. You get bitten, you turn. Just like in the movies."

"This _isn't _a movie!"

James went silent for a moment, "Is there anything we can use as a weapon?"

Meowth held up a paw and flipped out several claws, "I have my weapons right here!"

"Meowth, we need something that can _crush _bone. Not cut through skin like butter."

"I was being sarcastic. How about we rip out a pipe or a wooden board somewhere and use _that _as a weapon?"

James pointed behind Meowth, "How about those?"

The Cat Scratch Pokémon retracted his claws and turned to see several pipes coming out of the roof of the building, they all had meters and were letting out an audible hiss. They appear fragile, with the paint flaking away. A few bricks laid up against the system, placed there for some unknown reason, "These seemed like suitable pipes, but we need something to turn off the gas first."

"This building don't have a wrench, Meowth," said Jessie, "It was cleaned out from the looting here. I don't wish to blast off again, especially with zombies walking around."

"I got an idea." said James.

He walked over to the pipes and picked up a couple of bricks, James then got down to the valve where the gas was feeding the pipes and placed the two bricks between each side of the knob. He gave it a 90 degree turn and the hissing stopped, "Where did you learn that?" Jessie asked.

"A friend of mine," James simply says, "Now with the gas turned off, we won't blast off if we try to pry apart these pipes."

Meowth became skeptical, "How do we pry them off?"

James got up and approached one of the solid-looking pipes, he held up his foot and stomped on it. The pipe gave way without resistance and clattered onto the roof. Liberated from its fixture, James picked up the lead pipe and held it up for his friends to see, "It's a bit heavy, but it feels solid enough."

Jessie approached another solid pipe and gave it a kick, that pipe gave way and she picked it up, "Well there's a start," she commented before looking out towards the horizon, "Have any clue on what to do, James?"

"When we were flying around here I saw a Pokémon Center not far from here," James explained, "First we hang tight until the Undead disperse, then we move out."

"Maybe we can get some answers on what's going on." said Meowth.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	8. Ch 8: The Dead Tolls For Thee

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter VIII_

_The Dead Tolls For Thee_

The sun went down without further incident, bringing in the 2nd night of the Undead infestation. The entire Pokémon Center was quiet, people and Pokémon barely converse with each other as they all fell asleep in cots, couches, and beds. Cilan did his food count and discovered it would last for months. There were more Pokémon food than people food however, and a lot of people don't have an appetite for Pokémon food.

Ash sat comfortably on the roof. A fire blazed beside him in a steel barrel, letting out enough warmth to keep him cozy. Pikachu sat on his shoulder, barely struggling to stay awake as he and his trainer kept a lookout for any threats. The Undead that had bunched together outside the entrance had dispersed. Ash managed to see what was left of Piplup, just a huge puddle of blood, some mutilated organs, and parts of Piplup's half-eaten lower body. The upper body was nowhere to be found, maybe the Undead took it with them for a later feast. But why leave the lower half? Ash didn't wanna find out.

Ash turned on the radio and tuned down the volume, not wanting to attract attention. It continued picking up police reports from other parts of Faraday Island. Ash didn't try to communicate with anybody, he didn't need to. All he needed was to know what was going on, and what he learned wasn't good.

He tuned the radio to the international channel, Ash learned that parts of Unova were firebombed by the military in an attempt to contain the Undead, other regions such as Johto and Kanto were suffering from a similar fate. The Orange Islands were still okay, yet the population's food supply was cut off. Other small island settlements, including Faraday Island, no longer received international trade. To what it sounded like, the islands were now on their own.

The attack sirens echoing from the distance had ceased, but the smoke from several distant fires were still present and the sounds of chaos and gunfire still rang out as loud as ever. Ash could make out what seemed to be Faraday City up north, due to the intense light shining in that direction. He saw the faint glow of fires, the bright lights made the smoke well visible as it trails up towards the sky. Ash held up a pair of binoculars and looked out towards the city, he got a better view but couldn't see any people or Undead. All he saw was fire, smoke, and bright artificial light.

He returned focus out towards the wide open grass rectangle in front of the Pokémon Center, then something caught his eye. Ash quickly got down to his knees, inadvertently waking up Pikachu by knocking him to the floor. Just before Pikachu could complain, Ash placed a hand over its mouth to keep him quiet. The Mouse Pokémon didn't fight back, he instantly got the message. Ash slowly removed his hand and gestured to Pikachu to not say a word. The Pokémon sheepishly nod.

Ash crawled up against the walled edge of the roof and peaked over it, he saw a humanoid-shaped figure walking calmly towards the Pokémon Center. He held up his binoculars and looked through it. It was a survivor, another human being. It was a fully grown man with brown hair, wearing a tan T-shirt and a pair of camouflaged pants and combat boots. He had the beginnings of a beard growing on his face and was quite muscular, maybe he hadn't shaven this morning. The man seemed calm, his appearance suggest he dealt with such stress before. Who can handle the stress of Undead? This guy perhaps? Ash wasn't so sure.

The man had a double-barreled shotgun slung over his back and was holding a Desert Eagle in one hand, holding it up in the air in a passive manner. He casually approached the Pokémon Center in a calm manner, Ash examined the man for any bites. He had none. Ash held up a hand and waved at him, the man noticed him and waved back as he kept on walking, "Looks like a survivor, Pikachu." whispered Ash.

"Pika?" his Pokémon whispered back.

Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie, he pressed the talk button and spoke, "Wally, we got a survivor. He's alone and uninjured, open the door for him."

"Roger." Wally simply said.

Ash pocketed the walkie-talkie and got back to his feet, Pikachu climbed back on his shoulders and made his way downstairs. When he got back to the first floor, he arrived just in time to see the main entrance open up and Wally letting the man in. Several police officers had guns drawn, the man saw their defensive positions and holstered his weapon. They holstered their weapons in turn, "Who's in charge here?" The man asked in a calm passive voice.

"I handle security," said Wally, "What's your name and where did you come from?"

"I'm Luke Natas," said the man, "I came from Faraday City."

"How are things over there?"

"Overrun with the Undead, but the citizens are still holding their ground. I managed to sneak out and made it here on foot, I took a detour through the forest just to get here. I hoped to avoid most of the Undead from the roads, I was wrong. Those forest are infested with Undead Pokémon, but I hadn't seen a single Undead human until I got back onto the road."

_Undead Pokémon_, Ash thought, _What's happening!?_

Ash gulped at the thought and checked Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon was feeling the same thing. So the countryside was a mess as well, maybe even worse than the urban environment. He wondered if he could do something . . . Anything . . .

"Were you followed?" Wally asked

"I was by some Undead," said Natas, "But I took care of them."

Luke turned towards Ash, he and Pikachu was marveled at his will, "Ash Ketchum," said Natas, "The boy who showed up in Faraday City, drove Tesla out of his forest, and got him a 2nd chance at life. My nephew is a big fan of Tesla, and you."

"Um, thanks sir." said Ash.

"It's Natas, Nay-Tis. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out the pronunciation."

Natas approached and examined Pikachu in curiosity. The Mouse Pokémon was startled from his oppressive appearance, and so clutched tightly to Ash's shoulder. Natas reached out with a hand, but withdrew it. He frowned as he stepped back, "I used to have a Pikachu," he stated, "Just like yours."

"You had?" asked Ash.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, Ash felt

"He was a close friend since military school, I had him for decades. You from Kanto?"

"Yes, I'm from Pallet Town."

Natas smiled, "I was born and raised there myself, you know Professor Oak?"

"He's here somewhere in the Pokémon Center," said Ash, "So, what happened to your Pikachu?"

"He was KIA during a Pokémon Battle. His opponent hit him so hard that several ribs snapped and stabbed his heart and lungs, he was dead before he hit the ground," Natas sighed, "Those were bad days."

"Pika." muttered Pikachu in sympathy.

"I'm sorry to hear that." said Ash.

Natas pulled out a picture from his pocket and held it up, it showed a younger version of himself with a Pikachu, who wasn't looking at the camera when the photo was taken, "He's been dead for fifteenth years," Natas explained, "Before I moved to Faraday City, I dug up his remains and took him with me. Now that the Undead are rising from their graves, I thought to myself if that was a good idea to bring him. Maybe just leave him at my mom's backyard."

"Wait," said Wally, "The dead are _what_?"

"People and Pokémon who had been dead are coming back to life," said Luke, "I seen several of them clawed their way out of the ground and walk once more, I saw it from my friend's apartment when those things took on a squad of cops. They were shooting at them in the chest until the Chief of Police blew off one of their heads off with a shotgun?"

"Kissinger?" Wally asked.

"Yup, Emmett Kissinger figured it all out and most of the cops and their Herdiers survived. They managed to get away before the place got overruned, I waited for the Undead to clear before I left too. He was a hero."

"You need anything to eat or drink?" Ash asked.

"No thanks, I'll wait till morning. Where can I sleep for the night?"

"At the 2nd floor, 3rd door to your right."

"Thanks."

As Luke walked off, Wally walked up to Ash, "You best go to bed Ash," said Wally, "I'll keep an eye on things on the roof for you tonight."

"Thanks, Wally."

"Pikachu." thanked Pikachu

**. . .**

It was a dreamless sleep, Ash woke up feeling he needed another hour or two of rest. Not yet, exactly.

He sat up on the living quarters bed and looked around at the room. Iris and Axew were still sleeping but everyone else were up and somewhere with the Pokémon Center, Ash yawned and glanced at his backpack. Inside were several Poké balls containing most of his Unova Pokémon. Memories of enormous and important battles came to mind, they felt like a lifetime ago despite being quite recent.

He got up and opened up his backpack, he saw the Poké balls protected in small pouches of the inside of his backpack. He looked up and saw light coming out of the window, it was already morning. Ash grabbed the Poké balls and held them up with the palm of his hand, "Come on out, guys." he said.

Pignite, Scraggy, Oshawott, and Snivy materialized before him. They all stood side by side and looked at him smiling, as if nothing was wrong and it was just an ordinary day. Pikachu stirred from his sleep and sat up, he let out a yawned and watched as Ash sat down on the bed and sighed, "Be honest with me," said Ash, "Two days ago, did you _sense _anything weird?"

Their smiles dropped, it became clear to their trainer that the knew something was up. Ash figured they were in a bit of denial, they _knew _that Dawn turned and _knew _that she tried to eat him. He had no doubt they heard the screams of poor folk getting eaten, but did they had any knowledge of something was wrong? It was not unknown that Pokémon can sense the world outside their Poké balls.

Ash gave them a moment, then Snivy stepped up, "Snivy." she nodded, she knew what was wrong.

"Then you also know Dawn and Piplup are dead," said Ash, "The world we know has changed on us, is it alright with you that I keep you guys out of your Poké balls?"

All of his Pokémon nodded in compliance, though they were a bit hesitant about it. They knew if they get bit, they would turn. But if Ash get's bit and he turns, they would be trapped in their Poké balls. But not Oshawott, he can get out quite easily. Then again, he might get eaten. Ash suppressed that thought as he turned towards Iris, "Hey Iris!" he called out.

Iris stirred and sat up, "Yeah?" she asked, groggy with sleep.

"Call out all your small Pokémon and leave them out."

"Why?"

"Cause we're going to need all the hands we can get if we're going to make it through this curse. I'll explain later, right now there are some things I need to get done."

"Um, okay Ash."

"Axew." Axew muttered in his sleep.

Ash pulled on his pants and put his socks and shoes back on, he grabbed his gun and checked the ammo. His Pokémon, except Snivy, shuttered at the sight of it. He strapped the holster back on his belt and holstered the weapon. After putting on his jacket and hat, he sat up and looked at his Pokémon with determination, "Follow me."

His Pokémon agreed with a nod, Pikachu climbed back on Ash's shoulder as he walked out of the room and back to the lobby. Most of his friends and his mother were sitting on the plush chairs and couch as Wally stood nearby. Professor Oak had a book in his hand as he watched Brock fumble with the remote as he tried to fix the TV, which showed a blue screen with the words, "NO SIGNAL", printed in a tiny font.

Brock scratched his chin and stared at the TV screen, "How did this happen?" he asked.

"It was working last night," said Wally, he then turned towards Professor Oak, "Is there something wrong with the satellite dish."

"I already checked that," Oak said, "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Maybe the Undead had gotten to the station." Ash suggested.

Everyone turned towards Ash and saw his Pokémon out behind them, "Ash," Misty asked, "Why are all of your Pokémon out of their Poké balls?"

"I just realized something," said Ash, "I don't know how, but I realized it. Many Pokémon are trapped in their Poké balls that are stashed away in the pockets of their dead or half-dead trainers. Think about it, keeping Pokémon in their Poké balls is a double-edge sword now. We keep them in, and they're safe from the Undead. But if we get killed, or turned ourselves, they will be trapped and will die after a period of time passes. I don't wanna take that risk."

Delia's face became concerned, "Wait, you're going back out there?"

"We gotta find some supplies, what we already have won't last forever. We gotta take a risk and go back out into the world, there's no doubt that it will try to get in here. Probably even succeed."

"But Ash-"

Professor Oak cut her off, "Ash's right, we have to take the chance," he turned towards Ash, "But it's too risky for you to go out there alone, even with your Pokémon accompanying you."

"Most of my Pokémon will stay here," said Ash, "I'll take Pikachu with me, all I need is another person to accompany me."

"I'll go," said Brock, "It'll be just like old times."

"Where's your fire ax?"

"Right here."

Brock walked up to one of the couches and reached behind it, then pulled out the fire ax, "This should help keep things quiet."

Ash turned towards Wally, the officer glanced at him with doubt in his eyes, "Open the doors, we're heading out there immediately."

"Be careful you guys." said Misty.

"We won't take too long," said Ash, "We'll be back before 9:30." Ash turned to his Pokémon, "You stay here and hold down the fort. Oshawott, don't follow me."

"Oshawott." Oshawott nodded hesitantly, no doubt he had a plan on following Ash anyway.

**. . .**

There wasn't much activity going on. Most of the chaos occurring in Faraday City now had mostly ceased. Luke had already tried calling a number on the videophone and his cell phone, the former had no dial tone and the latter had "No Signal." The Undead were unintentionally cutting off communication between everyone from around the world, the Blue Marble that harbored life was becoming bigger once more.

Police reports were still coming in through the radio, for now. The Carson Police Department was overruned last night and the station was lost to the Undead, the Faraday National Guard had taken up most of the slack from police officers who either defected to save their families and their own skin, or were killed and maybe even zombified by the Undead. They were doing a much better job in holding back the Undead, Kissinger's police force were still holding up strong in Faraday City. No word about the mayor or the police commissioner yet.

Down below, Luke peered down and saw Ash and his friend walked out of the entrance, _A fire ax_, he thought when he saw the spiky-haired boy armed with a weapon, _Smart._

Ash pulled out a Poké ball and tossed it out, "Unfezant, I choose you!"

Unfezant materialized before its trainer and spread out its wings, "Unfezant!"

"Fly around Carson and search for any trouble, but do not interfere. If you see any trouble or found other survivors, warn us. When the sun goes down, settle on the top of the Pokémon Center for the night. When the sun comes up, continue searching. This may become a routine unless I say otherwise."

"Unfezant!"

The huge bird took off to the skies as it was ordered, Luke watched it fly high up until it was barely a speck and began gliding over the town below, "Okay Brock," said Ash, "Where do you wanna go first?"

"Let's check the market place first," said Brock, "I saw some stores packed with goods the other day, maybe we can find some stuff there."

Natas thought about telling Ash that all the stores were already looted, but decide against it. The boy and that Pikachu of his were targets of interest to his boss, Natas had nothing against the kid and his Pokémon, but he had his orders.

As he watched him and his friend walked off, Natas wondered how to report in to HQ. He knew what frequencies to use to contact the base, but the CB radio wasn't encrypted. It probably doesn't matter now that the world was succumbing to darkness, but the crinimal organization prepared for it.

His boss had left him a list on the experiments to perform on Ash Ketchum before the outbreak, he had read through it several times already. Natas didn't exactly approve on what was on the list, but they were orders nonetheless. It would take weeks, so he would have to protect and defend the boy in the meantime. Once all the experiments were complete, he would report his boss the results and his task is done. All for the common good, right?

_Had to be_, thought Natas, _They don't pay me to muck around with an innocent kid_.

Natas sipped his coffee and thought to himself of other things, seeing that he had plenty of time on his hands he got up and head downstairs to put together the first experiment. Hopefully Ash would come back in one piece.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	9. Ch 9: When You Need an Elder

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter IX_

_When You Need an Elder_

"How long had the TV's been broken?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Wally turned it on an hour ago and the blue screen popped up," said Brock, "Isn't that normal?"

"It means nobody's transmitting."

"How do you know?"

Ash shrugged, "Educated guess."

The two friends walked down the deserted road of Carson, heading back towards the marketplace where they past by just two days earlier. The streets were deserted, Ash, Pikachu, and Brock were the only people and Pokémon around. The small group kept their guard up, they already know that the Undead tends to sneak up on their victims and attack without warning. Whenever they had the element of surprise, or not.

Ash approached a car and peered through the windows, he saw nothing of value inside, "What do you see?" Brock asked.

"A lot of nothing," said Ash as he stepped back, he pointed to the small "H", which was printed just underneath the driver's side mirror, "This car had no gas beforehand, its Hydrogen powered. But it may still have a perfectly good battery under the hood."

Brock raised an eyebrow, "Why do we need a battery?"

"I bet within the next few days, the power grid will fail, and electricity will be ever more valuable. Even with the Pikachus back at the Pokémon Center, we can't rely on them for power forever. Their job's suppose to be temporary, not around the clock."

"How did you figure that one out?"

Ash shrugged again, "Common sense."

_I don't really know. _Ash thought.

He looked around at the shattered windows of many store fronts, Ash saw some blood in a few of them. Maybe there were Undead hiding in the stores, or some other danger, like leaking natural gas. Being exposed was a much worse hazard, best take a chance, "Which store you wanna check out first?"

"How about that one," Brock pointed to the closest store to them, "That one has less damage, so there might be supplies inside."

"Okay then."

Ash and Brock approached the store and peered inside, most of the shelves were cleaned out but it didn't look like the place sold food all. It was a hardware store, judging by all the sale signs about tools and welding gear. It was a small store, like the other conjoining stores in this mini mall-like setting. Ash walked in and carefully tried not to make too much noise as he walked, he passed by several empty shelves until he got somewhere in the center of the tiny hardware store. There was a corpse, laying face up on the ground.

Black blood was splashed around it, the way the body was positioned it looked like there was some sort of fight. It must be male, judging by the clothes and physiology of the body. He looked like he was dressed to survive, he had gloves and a leather coat. Plunged straight into the body's face was a crowbar, probably no more than 60cm long. Who would left the crowbar there, Ash didn't wanna know.

He felt intimidated by the sight of the body. Ash felt Pikachu shiver on his shoulder, just as scared as his trainer. Maybe afraid that the corpse would lean up and attack. Not possible, the head was smashed in. That was how the Undead were killed, Ash hoped there weren't any exceptions to the rule.

Around the feet, Ash saw a pair of black boots. Solidly built and in good condition. It was a little worn, but that was normal. The boots seemed somewhere around Ash's shoe size. He thought about it for a minute, and realize all of the dangers he might step on. Broken glass, debris, loose power lines even. His shoes were made for walking, nothing else. Ash didn't have it in his heart to loot the body. But this was survival, not the man's funeral.

_I'm not going to like this_.

"You found anything, Ash?" Brock called out from the back of the store.

"Sort of," said Ash, "Keep your eyes open, it'll just be a minute."

Ash reached out and began to undo the ties of the boots.

"Pikachu," said Pikachu, maybe asking what he was doing, "Pika, Pikachu?"

His trainer ignored him as he proceed to pull the boots off the dead person's feet, once he got them off Ash took off his shoes and slipped the boots on. They were a perfect fit, and felt strangely comfortable and secure above the ankles. Ash tied the laces and pulled his pants legs over them, Pikachu got down as he took off his backpack and stashed his own shoes inside.

He puts his backpack back on and looked at the crowbar again. Ash sighed, this was going to be nasty, _Here I go._

He grabbed the crowbar with both hands and gave it a pull. The crowbar pulled free with a sickening sucking sound as he liberated the claw end from the corpse. Black blood dripped freshly off the crowbar, causing Pikachu to stagger back a meter. Ash couldn't stand the sight of it either, he looked away as he wiped the crowbar's head on the dead man's shirt, getting most of the blood off. He can clean the rest of it off once he get back to the Pokémon Center.

"What did you find?" Brock asked as he approached his friend.

"Crowbar and a pair of boots," said Ash, "Don't ask where they came from. So far, no food or water."

Brock looked at the corpse and saw how mangled it was, he might had noted the man was wearing just his socks on his feet and the boots on Ash's own. If he did notice, he didn't brought it up, "I wonder what happened to this guy," said Brock as he got down on one knee, using his fire ax to support some of his weight, "Did you check his pockets?"

"No."

Brock searched the corpse and pulled out a Pokédex, it looked more solidly built than the previous ones he once seen during his travels with Ash. He reached over his shoulder and dropped the Pokédex into his backpack and got stood up, "Not much-"

Everyone jumped with something crashed in the back of the store, Ash and Brock rushed around some shelving and saw an Undead crawling out of the back room of the store. It looked like a male with long brown hair, or what's left of long brown hair. Most of it was gone, leaving behind rotten greenish-gray skin. His cheeks were bitten clean off, giving his mouth a more skeletal look. His nose was long gone, all that was left was the cavity for air to go through. Its red eyes glowed brightly as they locked on to the group, the Undead used its arms to crawl towards them as its legs remain limp. It was paralyzed by the waist down, and it wasn't letting that fact stop him. He flailed its arms towards Ash and Brock as it got ever closer, Pikachu started shivering again and frantically shot around. Maybe looking behind to see who was coming.

Ash rose up the crowbar and held it in an offensive position, then hammered it down on the Undead's skull. In a grossly crunch and splat, the Undead took the blow but it was still moving. Ash withdrew the crowbar and whacked the Undead again, this time it dropped its arms, going permanently dormant. Ash stepped back and examined the corpse, it was dead.

"Is there more?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu added with a hint of fear.

Brock stepped over the body and peered into the next room, "Nope, that's all."

"Let's get out of here Brock, and search the other stores."

"I'm right behind you."

Pikachu hopped back on Ash's shoulder and got settled in, Ash reached up and scratched one of Pikachu's ears. The Mouse Pokémon smiled from the unconditioned love, but his eyes was still disturbed from what they'd seen, "Sorry you have to see that Pikachu." Ash apologized.

"Pika." Pikachu muttered nonchalantly.

Ash stepped outside and saw some birds flying, one of them landed on the roof of a building. Looking closely, Ash saw its eyes were glowing yellow-orange. It wasn't natural, he had seen the same kind of birds a couple days ago and they didn't have such eyes. The bird just sat there as its other brethren fluttered down and rest on the edge of the conjoining stores, Ash stared at the bird long enough before it turned its body. On the other side was exposed ribs and organs, the area around it were covered in brown blood.

_Am I seeing things? _Ash thought.

He glanced over to the other birds and saw similar injuries, feathers were sheered off revealing bad wounds that could kill. One bird had half its face sheered off, another had its stomach gouged out. All the birds sat there and did their usual things, sing their mating calls or prune their feathers. It was like they were pretending things were normal. Were the birds Undead, but were somehow still _mentally _birds?

"What are you looking at, Ash?" Brock asked.

"The birds," said Ash, "There's something wrong with the birds."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked

Brock took a moment to respond, "Their eyes are, yellowish. How can they not feel those wounds, how are they not even bleeding?"

"They must be Undead," said Ash, "Humans aren't the only ones who're turning, Natas said that there were Undead Pokémon in the forest outside Carson."

"Looks like the disease is affecting Pokémon slightly different from others. Great, just great."

A shot rang out across the sky, scaring the Undead birds and causing them to scatter in the air. Several more shots rang out, it was louder than the gunshots they heard around Day 1. That could mean only one thing, someone was alive somewhere, "That sounds like its coming from the next block." said Brock.

"Someone needs help!" said Ash.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu stated.

Ash shoved the crowbar into his backpack and drew his gun, then he and Brock started jogging down the street. They made a turn and saw several Undead trying to claw their way onto a roof of a single building. On the roof, a Pikachu was armed with a gun, and was actually _shooting _the Undead. Square in the head. Most of its shots were spot on, the Undead were dropping like flies. But there were still some in an area where the Pikachu couldn't see.

"Is that a Pikachu with a gun!?" Brock asked in surprise.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu added.

Ash saw the Pikachu was wearing goggles, and it also had that look in its eyes, _Goggles, gun, that can only mean one thing..._

Ash held up his handgun and took aim at the Undead, he fired a round. It struck the back of one of the Undead's head and it dropped. The other Undead turned and saw the group, they ignored the Pikachu on the roof and focused their attention on them. Good. Ash took aim as they started slouching towards them, some of them jogged. He put them down first. The Pikachu on the roof held the barrel of his gun upward as he watched the show, he had a smile on his face.

After emptying his clip, Ash ejected it and slipped in a new one. He cocked the gun and aimed for the last Undead, he withdrew as Brock came in and plunged the fire ax's spike into the Undead's skull. It went limp and dropped to the ground after Brock removed the ax from its head, "Well that went smoothly," he commented as he looked at all the bodies, "What a mess."

A couple more Undead came out of the building and trotted after them, Ash stepped back and point his finger, "Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu jumped on the ground and sparked up, "Pikachu!"

Yellow lightning strucked the Undead, they jerked their limbs before collapsing onto the ground. When the lightshow ceased, the Undead started getting back up again, "Again!" Ash ordered.

"Pikachu!"

Another Thunderbolt struck the zombies, they stayed down but still jerked their limbs. Pikachu stopped his Thunderbolt, Ash observed the bodies for a moment. He couldn't believe his eyes when they stirred and sat up, "You got to be kidding me!"

"Pikachu!"

Pikachu stuck his tail up into the air and formed an Electro Ball, then jumped up into the air and threw it at the Undead. One Undead took most of the force, the other was knocked back. The concentrated ball of electricity, blew the Undead in half and burned off most of his arm. The two halves dropped to the ground, steaming smoke. Sure enough, the split Undead was still moving, using his good arm to crawl towards Ash a while letting out a distinctive moan. His buddy also got back up, but had trouble moving his limbs from the damage it took from Pikachu's electric attacks.

They were still coming, Ash wondered why was Pikachu's electric attacks not very effective against them. Seeing enough, he aimed his pistol and fired a round in each of the Undead's heads. That stopped them in their tracks and they went down for the final time.

"It didn't even faze them," said Brock, "How?"

"Maybe they didn't even feel it." Ash suggested.

Ash looked at his Pikachu, who appeared shameful from what he did, "You did alright, Pikachu. You did your best."

Pikachu seemingly ignored Ash, he just continued to stare at the bodies with sympathetic eyes. The Pikachu on the roof however, was in a different mood. "Ash," it said in a human-like, but slightly hoarse voice, "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Tesla," Ash smiled back, "How you doing?"

"I'm hungry and I'm terribly thirsty, I hadn't eaten or drank anything since I got back to Faraday Island yesterday."

"We got a safehouse set up, we can take you back there."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu added.

Tesla nod, "Okay, give me a moment."

The old Pikachu stepped away from the edge, it walked on his hind legs out of the store a few seconds later with his pistol and a small bag full of magazines. Ash took the bag as he picked Tesla up and handed it to Brock, "Here," said Tesla, "Take the gun, my stubby hands won't hold it properly."

"Uh, thanks," said Brock as he took the gun, "Ash, who's this?"

"Tesla Westinghouse," said Ash, "It's a long story, he lives in this island for most of his life."

"You don't know me?" Tesla asked.

"I heard about you on the TV." said Brock.

"Since you don't know me, I think we're going to get along just fine."

Tesla turned towards Pikachu and gave him a hug, "Good to see you again, friend."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded, then held his head down.

"Hey, I tried shocking them myself. They don't mind being cooked by electricity, I don't even know why. It's okay, buddy, I'll help you get through this infestation. You're not alone in this."

Pikachu looked up and smiled, "Pika."

Ash looked down the street and saw several Undead coming out of the buildings. There were a couple dozen of them, attracted by the sound of gunfire and electric-type moves. They didn't notice the group yet, but that would soon change, "Guys," said Ash, "It's time to go."

**. . .**

When Brock and Ash got back to the Pokémon Center, Natas took note of their arrival and had Wally reopened the entrance. Everyone inside was stunned to see Ash carrying Tesla in his arms when he walked on through, since Tesla was a famous resident of Faraday Island all eyes were on him as Ash took him to the lobby where Brock fetched him a bottle of water. Tesla quickly grabbed the bottle and pulled off a cap, then start to suck the bottle dry.

After emptying half of it into his stomach, Tesla stopped and took a deep breath, "Water always worth their weight in gold," he said, "I thought my choices were either death or Undeath, thankfully you came along when you did Ash. You having a heart of gold is an understatement, more like a heart of pure diamond."

"Always helping out an old friend." said Ash.

"Pikachu!" said Pikachu.

"Another Pikachu!" said Max as he and May came around.

"Yes," said Tesla sarcastically, "Another Pikachu."

Max blinked in surprise, "Wow, you can talk?"

"Longer than you've been alive. Heck, longer than most people in this hospital had ever been alive."

"How did you learn how to talk?"

"My trainer taught me."

"Where is he now?"

"Rotting 2 meters deep in the ground, somewhere outside Faraday City."

The smile on Max's face dropped, "Oh, um..."

"Kid, he's been dead for 20 years. I'm over it."

As Max stepped back, Misty, Cilan, and Iris came into the room, "Your back," said Misty, "What did you find, Ash?"

"A crowbar, some shoes, and a Pikachu." said Ash, shrugging a hand towards Tesla.

"Hello." the old Pikachu simply says.

"You're Tesla," Misty exclaimed, "You were on the news a few months back!"

"Tesla!" said Iris and Cilan in unison.

"Axew!" added Axew.

Tesla scooted towards Ash and tucked in at his side, away from the crowd as possible, "Please guys," said Tesla, "I don't wish to be mobbed right now."

"How you're doing, Tesla?" Iris asked.

"Before the apocalypse, fine. But when it happened, I barely made it out of Unova in one piece."

"What happened?" asked Cilan.

"Unova's overunned with the Undead," Tesla explained, "In some areas, they were packed shoulder to shoulder. There was just Undead everywhere, they were coming out of all sort of debris and crevasse. I had to sail on a boat for half the day just to get here."

"Why?"

"Why!?" Tesla raised his voice, "This island's my home, had been ever since I first came here several decades back."

"You know he gets irritated easily, Cilan." Ash warned.

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

Cilan grinned as he scratched the back of his head, "Oh, you're right. I forgot. Um, sorry Tesla. Bad recipe."

"Happens all the time." said Tesla.

"You need anything?"

"Something to eat. Not that crap you call Pokémon food, I can do with bread for now. Either refined or whole wheat."

Cilan nod, "Got it."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	10. Ch 10: Consider Yourself Cured

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter X_

_Consider Yourself Cured_

Ritchie poked his head over the corner and surveyed the nearby area, Sparky looked as well, fearing there might be potential danger. Sure enough, several Undead were gathered around a freshly slain corpse. Ripping chunks off of it with their teeth and hands before feasting on the remains, creating a gory mess that a simple garden hose and a few grams of bleach wouldn't clean.

Ritchie held in his breakfast and looked away, he pulled Sparky down and the two huddled up, "Looks like this way is also blocked, Sparky." whispered Ritchie.

"Pikachu." Sparky muttered in grief.

"They're everywhere, I mean literally everywhere. Where are these things coming from?"

A simple vacation had turned deadly in an instant. Ritchie heard it all, Walking Dead, Undead, Undeath, and Living Dead. Society just collapsed _overnight_, even though there was still a federal government, trying to reestablish order. Regardless on how futile it was. Ritchie took a deep breath and sighed, he didn't wanna spend another night sleeping on a roof. The moans of the Undead were keeping Sparky up, keeping him up as well. These Walkers just don't stop to rest, they just keep going, and going, and going. Not stopping for anything until they get a hold of fresh meat, meat so fresh that it came straight off of the Living.

With barely two days of food and water in his backpack, Ritchie needed to find other survivors. He heard that the Carson Police Department had established a safehouse at the only Pokémon Center in town. It wasn't far now, just a few more blocks to go. Ritchie turned to Sparky and nod, "Follow me and stay close," he whispered, "Keep your ears open."

"Pika." Sparky whispered back.

Ritchie clutched his wooden baseball bat and crept across the street towards a small alley, the Undead were too focused into their meal for them to notice. Sparky quickly scampered behind, not wanting to be left alone in a dire situation like this. Ritchie reached the other end of the alley and peaked out, no Undead in sight. He quickly jogged down the sidewalk and constantly looked around, occasionally glancing over Sparky just to make sure he wasn't far behind.

Somewhere up ahead was a nearby car, Ritchie rushed up to it and peered inside. It didn't appear to have an alarm, he took the tip of his baseball bat and slammed it into the driver side window. It gave off a loud thud that sounded more like hitting plexiglass, and the window held firm. Ritchie held his breath and listened for the shuffling of footsteps, there was none. He spun the bat around and used the handle end this time, this time the window couldn't take the impact and shattered into a million fragments.

"Bingo." Ritchie thought out loud.

He reached it and pulled the trunk release lever, the trunk door clicked open and it creaked up. Richie jogged to the back and opened the trunk door wider to see what was inside. All that was inside was a camouflage duffel bag, a box of jumper cables, and a cooler-style lunch box. Ritchie opened up the lunch box and saw 6 bottles of water inside, it was the jack pot. He quickly took off his backpack and stuffed the bottled water into it, then moved on to the duffel bag.

He zipped it open and discovered it was an emergency kit, it had maps, flares, matches, a couple of radios, everything needed to get through an emergency situation in the short-term. Hopefully this was a short-term. Ritchie zipped up the duffel bag and put his backpack back on.

Just before he grabbed the duffel bag, a door flew open and an Undead burst out of the nearby building. Sparky stood there in shock, his body paralyzed in fear. He payed the price as the Undead tackled the Pikachu to the ground and sank his teeth into his skin, "Pikachu!" screamed Sparky in the most heartbreaking cry imaginable.

"Sparky!" cried Ritchie.

Ritchie raised the bat and swung it at the Undead, "Get off of him!"

The Undead was knocked back by the blow, Sparky scrambled for safety as Ritchie smashed the creature's temple with the bat. It made an awful gurgling sound as it quickly died.

Ritchie picked up Sparky and examined him, the Undead had bit him just below the left shoulder and ripped off a corner of his chest. He was bleeding badly, Sparky sobbed as the pain surged through his tiny body, "Pikachu." the Mouse Pokémon grieved.

"Hang on, Sparky." said Ritchie, trying his best to contain his own tears.

Ritchie sat Sparky in the trunk and fished out the First Aid Kit out of the duffel bag, he opened it up and wrapped gauze over the wound by looping around Sparky's shoulder and chest a few times. Finished, Ritchie taped the gauze in place and put the roll back in the First Aid Kit, then stuffed it back into the duffel bag, "Pikachu!" Sparky continued to cry.

_It was hurting him so much_, thought Ritchie, _I think my heart's going to break_.

**. . .**

Ritchie picked Sparky up and wrapped the duffel bag's sling over his shoulder, he slammed the trunk door shut and took off as several stragglers came walking out of the buildings. They all took notice of him and began to follow, most of which would probably lose their way, since Ritchie was running quite fast. They started limping and dragging their feet in hot pursuit, with arms stretched out and jaws dropped. Though Ritchie was long gone when they got to where he once was, the smell of Pikachu blood helped pinged where he was headed and began walking towards his direction.

**. . .**

Eventually everyone caught up Ash's idea to let out their Pokémon, but only their small Pokémon. They were hesitant at first, but they soon accepted the fact that they'll be here for a while. First there was one and two trainers that released their Pokémon, next there was a dozen. Misty's Psyduck was a bit hesitant, and tried to get back into his Poké ball. But was persuaded to stay out when his trainer offered him some Pokémon food.

Ash saw now that there were more Pokémon than humans, it was noisy, and less lonely. Nurse Joy tended to Dawn's Pokémon, who were still reeling from her death. Her Pachirisu couldn't stop crying, and needed extra attention just to keep it calm. Already most of the Pokémon were less thrilled and more depressed, even Snivy seemed affected. However, the only Pokémon who still retain some hint of happiness was Tesla, who acted like there wasn't really a problem at all.

Since he behaved like there was always a problem.

He kept everyone going on his stories during his trip with Irvin on his journey, all the trainers and their Pokémon sit around him in the lobby and listened as he talked up a storm. He kept everyone's moral up, even Ash. Knowing Tesla quite well, Ash try to figure out how to keep him happy. With peanut butter in short supply, this was going to be a challenge.

Ash remembered that the Pokémon Center had Pikachus wondering around, so he went looking for them. They had a special room just down the hall, he walked inside and saw a ridiculous number of Pikachus. They had small beds lined up on the wall counters, a small exercising wheel, a food pellet dispenser, and... Ash couldn't tell what the metal pipe sticking out of the floor was for. All the Pikachus were highly active, talking to each other like small chatter boxes. The noise was so loud that Ash felt his head was about to explode, all the Pikachus seemed healthy and happy, without a care of the world. Did they know what was going on?

Only some of them had experienced what was going on outside, and they stood out quite well. Pretending that nothing was wrong, going with the flow of the crowd. Since there was a small number of Pikachus who knew what was really going on, word hadn't gotten to them than the others. Ash looked around and saw one Pikachu resting in one of the tiny beds, he approached that Pikachu and the others quieted down.

Ash wondered why they all ceased conversing among each other until he got a glimpse of the sleeping Pikachu. Something was wrong, it was lethargic and its face was kinda red. The red cheeks were sparkling static. Ash knew what he was looking at, he had seen this illness several times before.

"You shouldn't be in here."

Ash turned around and saw it was Nurse Joy, standing near the doorway, "This Pikachu has Overcharge?"

"Yes," said Nurse Joy, "He'd been sick for a week."

Nurse Joy approached Ash and looked at the sick Pikachu with sad eyes, "I'm worried about him since he has a heart condition, I don't know how long he's going to make it. We haven't had a shipment of supplies since the day before all _this _happened."

"Do the Pikachus know what's going on?" Ash asked.

Nurse Joy placed a finger over her lips, Ash nodded and the two stepped out of the room before she answered his question, "I don't wanna worry them, I clearly told them not to go outside ever since day one and warned the Pikachus who saw it all not to say anything about it to the others. Their loyalty was unquestionable, but they're quite young, sweet, and kind. I don't know how to break the news to them."

"You can't keep it a secret from them forever." said Ash.

"No, I can't. How did your Pikachu react to all this?"

"He was nauseous, he shivers every time he sees the Undead."

Nurse Joy sighed, "I'm sorry again about Dawn and Piplup, Ash. I got a feeling there will be more people and Pokémon losing their lives as all _this _continues to play out."

Ash didn't respond right away, "I hope it ends soon."

Ash glanced at the sick Pikachu again, "Did you try any healing herbs?"

"I tried everything, even the Revival Herb, it worked before but-"

Cilan ran around the corner and rushed up to the two, "Hey Ash," he said, "Another survivor arrived!"

Ash quickly followed Cilan, over at the entrance the gate was left open as Wally talked to the new survivor. The survivor was worried as he held an injured Pikachu in his arms, Ash knew who it was upon first glance, "Ritchie?"

"Ash," cried Ritchie, "Oh I'm glad it's you! Please, tell him to have Sparky stay!"

Ash was confused, "What?"

"That Pikachu was bitten," warned Wally, "He's going to turn, you gotta leave him outside if you want to come in here!"

"No, he's my friend!"

"Pikachu." sobbed Sparky, he sounded weak.

"Pika!"

Ash turned and saw his Pikachu rushed up to him, he stood on his hind legs and kept his distance. He looked like he understood what was happening, the Mouse Pokémon just stood there and watch, "What are you talking about!?" Ritchie asked, starting to sound more angry than sad.

"We've seen what happens when those zombies bite you," stated Wally, "You turn into one of them! We've already seen it, how do you think these Undead are _reproducing_?"

"You're scaring Sparky!" cried Misty.

"Ritchie." said Professor Oak.

"Professor," he asked, "Help me here!"

Oak shook his head and sighed,"He's right, Ritchie. We've seen it happen already. I'm sorry, I wish there's another way."

Sparky leaned over and spat out a glob of black blood on the floor. Wally jumped back and drew his gun and held it up for all to see, everyone stepped back but Pikachu held his ground, "Kid," said Wally, "That Pikachu is done for, we gotta put an end to this before he comes back and try to eat you!"

"I don't understand." sobbed Ritchie, his eyes were tearing now.

"For the last time. If you get bitten, you become a member of the Living Dead within hours. When was he bitten?"

"Two hours ago."

Wally pulled the pistol's hammer back, "Put him on the ground, kid. We have to put him down!"

"He's my first Pokémon, he's my friend! Can't we just give him something that puts him to sleep, and not shoot him like he's some crazy monster!?"

That touched Ash's heart, it could had been his Pikachu being bitten. He glanced over him and saw him started to shiver like crazy, the mouse Pokémon had figured it out too. Ash felt he must do something, Wally was going berserk, Ritchie was loosing it, everyone's nerves were on edge. Ash looked back and saw his own Pokémon standing there in sporadic defensive positions, gearing up like they're going into a Pokémon battle. Yet this wasn't a Pokémon battle, those days were over.

_Think of something, Ash_. He thought.

"The brain has to be destroyed," said Wally, he put an index finger to his head, "It's here, nothing else would do it."

Richie shifted his weight on the other food and gulped, "Wh- Wha-"

"Ritchie," said Ash, "The world had changed on us, you've got to accept that. I've seen what was going on out there, Pokémon eating trainers, trainers eating Pokémon, trainers and Pokémon eating each other. Everybody's getting bitten and eating each other. You have to accept that, Ritchie. Everything we _know _about the world is gone. Did you even noticed the birds out there are now Undead?"

"Not just birds," said Ritchie, "I've also seen packs of Herdiers roaming around, they don't even look like Herdiers anymore. They look more like blood-soaked skeletons than the Loyal Dog Pokémon!"

"Oh this is not good." muttered Professor Oak.

"What's going on here?" said Luke as he strolled up.

"Kid here has a bitten Pokémon," said Wally, "But he's not letting us take care of it."

Natas drew his Desert Eagle, "Then rip his Pikachu out of his arms _and _take care of it. If he refuse, shoot them both!"

"Luke!" said Delia.

Ritchie crept backwards and pressed his back against the glass door of the Pokémon Center entrance, "No!"

"Boy," said Luke, "You realized your Pikachu stopped breathing?"

"NO!"

"Ritchie," said Professor Oak in a calm voice, "Put Sparky down, he's gone."

The whole room went awkwardly silent, Ritchie held Sparky in his arms who now had gone limp. Natas raised up his gun and took aim, Wally flipped off the safety on his gun but kept his finger off the trigger. The other police officers had their hands on their guns, but refused to draw them. Ritchie was in a difficult position, there was no easy way out of this. Before anyone can do anything, Tesla stepped forward and sighed, "Kid," said Tesla, "You're in denial. If you refused one more time, we're all going to gun you down. Either if we're friends or not. I've lost friends this way, I know how it's like. You do not want to go there."

Ritchie was surprised that Tesla was talking to him in human words, "But-"

"This is your Pokémon here, he is suffering. You gotta put him out of his misery, he's going to suffer a fate worse than death if you stall anymore."

Wally and Natas lowered their guns. Ritchie held his head down and petted Sparky, the Mouse Pokémon laid motionless in his arms, "Okay," he said softly, "Here."

Before Ritchie could sat Sparky down, the Pikachu opened its eyes. Revealing glowing red orbs. His trainer dropped him in shock, Sparky flopped to the floor and started moving. The Undead Pokémon quickly sprain up in all fours as he let out an alien moan.

Wally fired a round and shot Sparky in the side, giving off a puff of still red blood. The Undead mouse Pokémon didn't notice, he was locked on to Ash's own Pikachu. With no time to react, Sparky tackled Pikachu to the floor and pinned him down. The Living Pikachu grabbed Sparky by the throat and held him back with all his strength. He continued to snarl and growl like a monster. The irony was that he still sounded similar to a Pikachu, but with some mutant Undead sounds to the voice.

"Pikachu," cried Pikachu struggled to hold Sparky back, "Pikachu! Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"Don't shoot!" cried Brock to the officers.

No one wanted to step forward and pull Sparky off of Pikachu, in fear of getting bit themselves. Ash just stood there watching helplessly as the Undead Sparky was doing its best to recruit his own Pikachu to the ranks of the Undead. Ritchie just stood there, petrified in fright from what was unfolding before him. Tesla just stood there, also in surprise. He seemed to be the only one who wasn't scared.

Quickly, Ash thought of something, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked instantly, "PikaCHU!"

A blast of electricity erupted underneath Sparky, knocking him off of Pikachu. He didn't respond to the damage, the Undead Pikachu was still locked on to its Living counterpart. Ash's Pikachu quickly got on all fours and ran down the hall as the Undead Sparky give chase. Everyone got out of the way as Wally fired another round at Sparky, striking him in the leg. Still he wasn't fazed, he couldn't even feel pain.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash as he tried to catch up with them.

"Ash," cried Delia, "Wait!"

Ash chased after his and Ritchie's Pikachu, knowing that one of them must be put down. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the other one as well. Pikachus were ridiculously fast. Ash had a hard time catching up, even though they were just 5 meters apart. Sparky was not that far away from Pikachu, and the distances between the two Pokémon and Ash were rapidly increasing. People and other Pokémon passing down the hall got out-of-the-way, some wisely ran into random rooms to avoid crashing into either the Living or Undead Pikachu. Ash tried to pick up the pace, but he couldn't keep up.

"Pikachu," cried Pikachu, sounding like he was calling for help, "Pikachu! Pikachu! Pika P! Pika P!"

Without warning a door opened and a curious Pikachu walked out on his hind legs, Ash's Pikachu ignored him and blew past him. That Pikachu looked on wondering what was going on, then turned left. The unfortunate Pikachu realized the danger too late, he tried to jump out-of-the-way but Sparky jumped him. Ash felt several lobes of his brain explode as Sparky sunk his teeth into the Pokémon Center's Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon let out a scream that sounded literally like a 4 year old girl. It was so heartbreaking that it made Ash threw up on the spot.

He feared that his Pikachu was about to get eaten, instead he saw what _could _happened if Pikachu was nabbed by the Undead counterpart. To him, the pain had no difference, whenever it was his Pikachu or not. He dropped to his knees and watched the horror unfold.

"Ash," cried Brock as he and his friends came up to him, "What's wrong?"

Ash looked on motionless as Sparky ripped chunks of flesh out of the helpless Pikachu's shoulder and chest with his teeth, then swallowing them whole. Wantimg more, Sparky tore open the Pikachu's belly with a single bite and ripped out his intestines and took a bite out of that. Blood pooled around the Pikachu, it started coughing out blood which choked out its scream. It struggled to breathe, it had no strength left.

Sparky ripped up half the intestines and plunged its hand back into his prey's adominal cavity, then pulled out its liver and ate it like it was a fried bird leg. The Pokémon Center's Pikachu was quite strong, which only made his demise more painful for him. He went limp and stared at the ceiling, his life gone in an instant.

Ash's Pikachu shot around and saw what happened, he froze. His hands trembled and tears pour down his face. The rest of the Pokémon Center's Pikachus watched as the Undead Sparky continue to rip and disembowel their friend. For every single one that Ash saw, their eyes consumed with the horror they were seeing.

"Oh my gosh!" Iris shielded Axew's eyes as she shielded hers.

"This is not real," gasped Ritchie, "I must be dreaming!"

"This is no dream," said Tesla, "There's too much information for it to be one, too stable. It is real."

Luke raised his magnum pistol and double-tapped the trigger, Sparky's head burst open as one bullet went straight through his skull, then another bullet went through his prey's a millisecond later. Both Pikachu's brains burst out and splattered the floor in a spray-like manner. The momentum of the round caused Sparky to shot off his prey and thumped off the wall, he let out a gurgle and hiss as he fully "died." It was all over before the blood settled on the walls and floor.

Ash got back to his feet and rushed up to his Pikachu, he picked him up and held him tightly in his arms. Their friends remained silent as Luke approached the dead Pikachus and tapped Sparky with his foot, "They won't be coming back now." he said without remorse.

"Ugh," complained Tesla, "I've seen Pikachus eat their own before, but never had I ever seen a Pikachu killed and eaten another. So much for table manners."

Delia looked at him in disgust but said nothing, Tesla just turned his back towards her and looked away in response.

"Someone take the bodies out to the back and burn them," said Professor Oak, "This is a biohazard."

"I'm on it." said Natas.

Ritchie stared at Sparky for another second before he passed out, Brock managed to catch him in time before he could collapse on the floor, "Let's get him in a bed." said Brock.

"Grab his feet." said Iris.

Cilan stood there and watched as Nurse Joy reluctantly got Natas a trash bag and latex gloves, he put on the gloves and stuffed the two dead Pikachus into the trash bag before tying a knot in it as the other Pokémon Center's Pikachus looked on in shock, "All those things do is eat," he said, "And they eat us _raw_!"

"Cilan." said Delia, "Calm down."

"I gotta make a call." said Cilan as he ran to the nearby videophone.

He stuck a couple of coins into the videophone and dialed in a number, _"We're sorry," _said the automated voice machine of the videophone, _"We cannot complete your long-__distance call due to technical difficulties, please try again later_._"_

"Oh, come on!" cried Cilan.

"And you just noticed the phone's are out," Wally asked, "Who are you trying to call?"

"My brothers!"

"Where you're from?"

"Striaton City, in the Unova region."

"Unova's gone," said Tesla, "All the cities are overruned, the Undead are crawling all over the place when I left. In some cases, quite literally."

"Tesla!" barked Iris.

"I've never lied to you or your friends, Iris! There's nothing but death and destruction there! _That _is the reason I'm here, because the dead had consumed everything and this f*cking island is all that I have left!"

His cheeks were sparking electrical energy from built-up anger. Still holding Pikachu in his arms, Ash rushed up to Tesla, "Tesla, calm down!"

The sparking ceased and Tesla exhaled, he turned to Ash with a tired look on his face, "What are we becoming, Ash?"

"Something else."

Tesla looked down and sighed, then looked up at Iris, "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault that this is happening." said Iris.

"Axew." Axew muttered.

Tesla grunt, "Then whose fault is it?"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	11. Ch 11: Still Have Hope To The End

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XI_

_Still Have Hope To The End_

Ash wrapped his arms tight around Pikachu, he clutched back with a grip normally used by a child to hold tightly to their mother. The Mouse Pokémon cried on his trainer's chest, traumatized by the near "undeath" experience. Several of the Pokémon Center's Pikachus had gathered around Ash as he sat in the lobby to show respect and show their sympathy.

"Pikachu..." sobbed the Mouse Pokémon as more tears streaked down his face.

"I'm not going to let those things hurt you, Pikachu." Ash promised.

"Are you sure of that?"

Ash looked up and saw Tesla standing before him among the small crowd of Pikachus, "What?" the trainer asked.

"You're going to promise your Pikachu that the same fate won't happen to Sparky?"

Ash was stunned by the tone of Tesla's voice, "Where are you going with this?"

"From what I'd seen out there, Ash, that promise will be easily broken. You can promise that you would _try _to keep Pikachu safe, but you can't promise him that you'll protect him from death. Because death comes for us all."

Pikachu let out a whine and clutched Ash tighter, "You're scaring him!" the trainer exclaimed.

"Ash," said Tesla in a calm voice, "I'm not trying to scare him, I'm stating the obvious. This is what's happening, the Undead are coming back to life to eat the flesh of the Living. Here's a reality check, this incident isn't local. It's _global_. There are genocides going on in the major cities and highly populated region of the world, such as Unova. The technology we depend on are having their infrastructure ripped up by the merciless hordes and lack of maintenance, cutting off communication between loved ones and emergency personnel. Cilan tried to call home, but got no reception. Professor Oak tried to turn on the TV, but that had no signal. From the way I see it, it won't be long before the power grid fails and _that _would make the apocalypse hit home."

"Is there any chance that the military-"

Tesla raised his voice, "F*ck the military, they're for killing people, not killing people who are already _dead_. This is what's happening to _you_, Ash. Your journey has become an odyssey, you either adapt to the Undead walking the world or you and your Pokémon join their ranks."

Not only did Tesla swore, but he was dumping everything at once on him. Ash wanted to scream, but he couldn't find it in his heart to do it. It wasn't Tesla's fault that all this was happening, he was trying to help. But he had a funny way in doing it. Regardless, any negative emotion would upset his Pikachu more. For his Pokémon's best interests, Ash would do anything to keep their well-being up.

"Alright," he decided, "What do I need to do?"

"Train your Pokémon to combat the Undead," said Tesla, "Also, teach them how to use firearms. Not all special attacks are effective against the Undead, they're either don't do much damage or just cause plain overkill. The destruction of the brain doesn't require that much effort."

"Okay."

"Second, you have a spare Pokédex on you?"

Ash remembered the Pokédex he and Brock found off the body, "Brock might have one, why?"

"I'm going to see if I can modify it to work in this new world," said Tesla, "Probably work everything into something that you're familiar with, that way you won't go insane. The internet's still up, surprisingly, but I'm not sure how long it will stay up. The sooner the merier.

"Oh, and one more thing. In this new world, Ash. You're not going to be able to save everyone. People will die, either it would be your friends or complete strangers. Keep that in mind when the next loved one goes, or one of your Pokémon suffers such a fate."

"I'll try." said Ash

Tesla smiled, "I know you will."

**. . .**

"Okay guys," said Mark, "We're not far now."

"You said that a few hours ago, Mark." said Henry.

"I'm certain this time, my memory's a bit fuzzy."

Carley made a few more turns, passing more Undead along the way. Henry held Raichu firm, the Mouse Pokémon was starting to feel nauseous. Odd, Raichu normally doesn't get car sick. Maybe it was because they had been on the road for hours, Emolga was starting to feel ill herself. They hadn't eaten anything in quite some time, even though they had food with them. The almost freezing temperatures were enough to preserve the perishables, for now. But they couldn't stay on the road forever, somewhere they must set up camp in a permanent safehouse. Carson was their best bet since they have a way off the island if things really hit like a storm.

When they drove straight into Carson, they saw that the town didn't survive the onslaught of the zombie hordes. There were just as much destruction here as there was chaos in Faraday City, luckily they missed the climax of it all. The peak of the apocalypse tended to be brief, lasting only a few hours. What was left were abandoned towns and wreckage . . . And Undead. Lots of them. Already Mark had a clue where they were coming from, but there was surely more.

Up ahead, Mark spotted a squad car down the road. It was smashed into a street lamp, the bumper buckled into the engine compartment and the lamp itself snapped like a twig. He had Carley stop the pickup truck and they pulled up beside it, "What are you doing?" Carley asked.

"I'm gonna check to see if there's any guns," said Mark as he hopped out of the car, "Don't drive away, okay."

"Emolga!" cried Emolga as she reached for him.

"Stay in the truck, Emolga," warned Mark, "Just stay in there, girl."

Mark approached the Carson Police Department squad car, he looked at the driver-side window and saw it was smashed in. Just as he approached, Mark jumped back when an Undead cop poked its head out and gnashed its teeth at him. He was still buckled into his seat, which prevented the Undead from climbing through the broken window, "Looked like the cop came back." he announced his findings to his friends, then he noticed a large bite wound on the Undead's forearm. Well, that explains a lot.

"Kill it and get his gun!" said Henry.

Carley wasn't paying attention, but was rather keeping a lookout around her. She had been driving for quite some time, mostly around abandoned roadblocks and hordes of Undead. She was on edge, more than everyone else. Had there weren't been any roadblocks, they would have arrived in Carson yesterday.

Mark thought about telling Henry on how the cop might had turned, since Raichu was bitten by one of those things. He thought against it, they'll deal with the situation when it comes to it. Mark stepped back and raised his pistol at the Undead as it groaned and snarled, then fired.

The crack of the gunshot made Emolga jumped, even scaring a few nearby birds. That shot would attract some Undead, better work fast. Just as the corpse went limp, Mark reached in and unlocked the car door, when he got it open he pressed the button that popped the car's trunk open before grabbing the cop's pistol. He saw a shotgun strapped to the plexiglass cab divider, Mark freed it from its binding and took it with him.

He ran around the car and opened the passenger side door to access the glove compartment, as he searched he found a box of shotgun shells and a couple of clips of 9mm ammo. Mark grabbed them. He quickly handed Henry the guns and ammo before heading to the back of the squad car, "Hurry up, Mark!" Henry insisted.

"Emolga!" Emolga added in fear.

Mark pulled open the trunk found a duffel bag, he opened it and found it was full of shotgun shells and other types of ammo, along with another pistol. He zipped it up and tossed it to Henry, his friend caught it and sat it aside.

Mark was hoping for an assault rifle. By law, every cop in Faraday Island must own a "civilian-grade" fully automatic assault rifle. Unfortunately for Mark, there was no assault rifle. Damn. Seeing nothing else of use, Mark ran back to the cop and searched his belt. He just managed to grab the taser and Mag-lite flashlight off the corpse before he saw an Undead appear out of the abandoned building across the street.

"Let's go!" cried Henry.

One by one the Undead crawled out of their holes and wandered into the street, Mark rushed around the cop car and jumped back into the pickup truck. Carley stomped on the accelerator and the back tires squealed against the pavement, leaving the beginnings of a new zombie horde to eat the dust. Mark sat back up and looked back to see the Undead jogging after them with arms flailing all over the place, almost like they just wanted to give him a hug. He chuckled at the thought.

"Whew," said Mark, "That was a close one."

"What's in the duffel bag?" Henry asked.

Mark opened his backpack and stuffed the taser and flashlight into it, "Look inside and see for yourself."

Henry unzipped the duffel bag and looked inside, "Oh nice."

"Is there any assault rifle clips in there?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, it looks like they're clips for the AR-15."

"Too bad we don't have an AR-15."

"A Remington 870 isn't so bad."

"Good stopping power right there, better than my peashooter if you ask me."

"Hey guys," Carley called out, "I can see the Pokémon Center is up ahead, we're almost there!"

**. . .**

"I'm sorry about your friend." Ash said to the Pikachus.

The Pikachu closest to him teared up and cried. He cried so loud that Ash gulped, embarrassed at what he started, "It's okay, it's okay!" he insisted.

"Pikachu!" sobbed the Mouse Pokémon.

"Way to go, Ash," said Tesla sarcastically as he sat on another couch, he had a selfish grin on his face, "You made a Pikachu cry, may Ho-Oh have mercy on your soul."

Tesla got down and approached the crying Pikachu, he reached out and pinched its shoulder. The Pikachu went limp and collapsed face first onto the floor, all the other Pikachus were instantly filled with surprise and confusion. Trying to figure out what Tesla did to their friend, "What did you do?" Ash asked.

"Nerve pinch," said Tesla, "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Tesla picked up the Pikachu and flopped it on the couch, "You don't seem scared yourself, Tesla." Ash noted.

"There's a lot of things old age do to you," said Tesla, "I'm just too mellowed down to even be afraid."

"I'm not talking about that, you weren't fazed at all in seeing Sparky eating that Pikachu earlier."

"Well, Ash. I don't have much to lose. The family I grew up with is dead, the family I created is probably zombie food themselves, everybody else from my Westinghouse days are unknown. But as time pass, they may be gone anyway. My generation is fading away already, they'll be dead even if the Undead didn't speed up that clock.

Tesla let it sink in for a moment, then returned his attention to Ash, "All I have left is you, I guess."

"For a 107 year old Pikachu," said Ash, "You can surely take care of yourself."

Tesla chuckled, "That was how I was trained, Ash. Damn my trainer."

At that moment, Ash heard loud tires screech against the pavement outside. He got up and ran out of the room to investigate, "Oh this is going to be good." Tesla commented as he followed right behind him.

"Pikachu!" Ash's Pikachu cried as he tried to catch up with his trainer.

Ash walked up a flight of stairs and looked out of a 2nd story window, right below he saw a tan pickup truck drove right onto the giant grass-paved rectangle in front of the Pokémon Center and skidded to a stop. Several Undead came walking out of the many abandoned nearby buildings, but there weren't too many. Several people quickly took notice and looked out the window, Professor Oak walked up and saw the scene as it unfolds, "Looks like survivors." he said.

"What's out there?" Tesla asked as he strolled up.

Ash picked him up and gave him a boost, "Holy crap, it's Mark Kissinger and his buddies."

Several patches of grass rippled up and burst, mud-covered humanoids came crawling out of the holes and pulled themselves out. They moaned and roared for blood, Mark was scared out of his mind but he was determined to fight back, "Come on, guys," he said to his group of friends, "Hold the Walkers back, its target practice time!"

Henry and Mark stood up in the back as Emolga got up on the roof the pickup truck, Henry pulled up a shotgun and began to load it as Mark had a pistol out and ready. As he began firing at the Undead, Carley came out of the cab and quickly climbed into the back of the truck. Mark handed her his Varmint Rifle and she loaded it.

Just as the Undead started making their way close to them, the trio began their dramatic final stand. Mark was a skilled marksman, easily taking out a few Undead 50 meters away. Henry and Carley were having trouble with their accuracy, they either missed the Undead altogether or shot them in the torso and limbs. Those shots knocked them down, but they got right back up.

Emolga unleashed her Thundershocks at the Undead, the electric attacks weren't very effective. She was able to do was stunned them with Hidden Power, that made one of their heads explode. The rest just kept on coming. Mark reached down and handed his Sky Squirrel Pokémon a pistol, she took it and opened fire at the Undead. Her shots were just as excellent as her trainer.

"Damn," said Tesla, "Emolga knows how to shoot."

Ash had seen enough, he turned and started straight for the stairs. By the time his friends took notice and call his name, he was already running down the stairs and towards the main entrance. Wally was busy eating a TV dinner, he didn't have time to react when Ash pressed the button. When the shutters opened up a couple seconds later, Ash was out the door and back out into the Undead world.

"Pika P!" cried his Pikachu from the 2nd floor window, he was too scared to even follow him.

"Hold on, Mark," Ash called out, "I got you!"

"Ash," cried Mark as he shot three more Undead in the head, "I'm glad to see you!"

Ash drew his gun and aimed with both hands. He held his breath and aimed at several Undead closest to his Faraday Island friends. With adrenaline on his side, Ash unloaded half the clip at the Undead. Three rounds struck the horde in the chest and arm, the rest were dead on in the head, burrowing straight into their brains and neutralizing the rotting monsters from existence.

There was no time to be impressed by his handiwork, more Undead came from the right. Ash fired the rest of his rounds straight at the Undead, striking all but one zombie in the head. Just as Ash ejected the clip, Mark tossed him another mag. He clicked it into the gun and cocked, when he turned around, an obese Undead body slammed him. Ash was knocked to the ground, the Undead bulk groaned in a deep voice as he staggered lopside towards him. Just before the creature could drop down for dinner, his head exploded with a loud blast and he dropped down for dead.

"Ash," cried Henry, "Here!"

Just as Ash got up, Henry tossed him his shotgun, "That gun has slugs loaded, blast them back!"

Ash holstered his pistol and examined the shotgun, "How do you use this-"

The shotgun discharged in Ash's hands, he almost dropped it as it startled him. He turned to where the shotgun blast went and saw it had blown through a female Undead's neck, her head rolled off her shoulders as her body hit the ground in a sickly fashion. Ash gulped at the sight, then realized the head was moving its jaw. Still "alive." Ash took care of that by simply stomping on it, the Undead brain splattered out with sheer force of his boot.

Another Undead tried to give Ash a hug, the Pokémon trainer staggered back and smashed the butt of the shotgun into the zombie's face. Killing it in a single blow, somehow not splattering blood everywhere.

He looked around and saw there were two stragglers left, just before Ash could take care of them Mark held up his pistol and double-tapped the trigger. Both of the Undead's heads exploded with very little time between each, now all that was left were dead bodies of fully diseased human beings. Or formerly human-beings.

Mark jumped off the truck and shook Ash's hand, "You sure know how to pull a person out from the brink," he said, "When did you learn how to shoot, Ash?"

"Yesterday." Ash smirked.

"Here, I'll pull the truck up to the entrance and we'll unload. We got a problem that needs taken care of," Mark pointed to an ill Raichu, who was leaning over the edge of the pickup truck in preparation to vomit, "I suggest we do it fast."

**. . .**

The police officers quickly stepped in and helped Mark and his friends unload his truck, Ash helped Carley carry the sick Raichu into the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy led them to a back room where they sat Raichu on the bench, they all knew there was no point in trying to help the fully-evolved Mouse Pokémon any further. His fate was sealed. Just as Ash was about to leave the room, his mother came in and gave him a big hug, "Don't you go running out like that again!" Delia insisted.

"Someone needs to help them, Mom!" Ash defended himself.

"We would had been done for if it wasn't for if it wasn't for him." Carley added.

"Ash!" cried several of his other friends.

They came pouring into the room, spreading out to give everyone space. Pikachu came running up and jump into Ash's arm's, his trainer gave him a big hug before the Pokémon sat on the usual shoulder, "Pikachu!" Pikachu had tears in his eyes.

"Ash," said Tesla as he came in, "Looks like you saved the day again, I suppose you adapted to the situation well."

"Tesla!" cried Carley.

"Long time, no see." said Tesla as he shown a friendly smile.

"That big guy nearly clobbered you," cried Misty, "What was that thing?"

"A _big _guy," said Mark as he came in, Henry was just behind him, "I told people that some grades of obesity doesn't hinder performance. Now, I stand true."

Mark turned to Delia, "Who are you, you seem familiar?"

"Delia Ketchum," said Delia, "I'm Ash's mom."

"I bet you're proud to be his mother," said Mark as he placed his hand on Ash's shoulder, "At least we still have generosity in a world overtaken by the Undead."

"You look a little bit young, where's your parents?"

"My mom is somewhere in the world and my Dad's at Faraday City with his dad, he told me to get out of dodge. So I called up a couple of friends and we've been on the road since yesterday. Damn, did you see those Walkers came popping out of the ground?"

"I did," said Ash, "That's just a complete game changer."

Tesla's eyes lit up, something got his attention, "What?" he asked.

"Tesla," said Mark, "How you're doing buddy?"

"I'm fine Mark, what did you just said a few seconds ago?" There was some urgency in his voice.

"The dead, those who were already dead, are coming back to life. Me and my friends just stopped by the cemetery because I wanted to check on some already passed relatives. Sure enough, my dead family members came out of their graves and tried to eat me. Just before we got away, one of those things came out of the ground _outside _the cemetery and bit Raichu in the belly."

Mark pointed to Raichu, who laid on his back, moaning in pain, "Henry, I think your Raichu's a goner."

"I know, Mark," said Henry, "I just don't wanna scare him, I don't want him to go with that thought."

_Uh-oh_, Ash thought, _A repeat of Sparky, this time much worse_.

"When was he bit?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yesterday morning," said Mark, "I'm surprised Raichu didn't turn yet, normally they would turn after thirty minutes or 24 hours. He's still going 32 hours _after _he was infected... Now, it looks like he's finally losing the battle."

"How can you tell?"

Just then, Raichu moaned and sat up. Nurse Joy grabbed a nearby trash can and held it to Raichu, he vomit black blood into the bin for a full minute before he finished, "Yup," said Tesla nonchalantly, "He's about to turn."

"Who's about to turn?" Luke said as he came into the room, drawing his magnum pistol.

"The Raichu here." said Nurse Joy.

"Don't use any guns," said Mark, "You'll splatter blood everywhere, we'll put him down with a melee weapon."

"Does anyone have one?" Henry asked.

Brock handed Henry his fire ax, "An ax with a spike," said Henry, "This would be less messy."

"I can't look." said Iris as she scampered out the door, taking Axew with her.

Raichu laid down on the bench and wheezed, his strength was evaporating away. Henry sighed and held up the ax, pointing the spiked end of the head at him. The room went eerie silent, Ash could feel Pikachu shivering again on his shoulder, "I'm sorry buddy," said Henry as he get's ready, "Just close your eyes."

Henry held the ax high and hammered it straight at Raichu's head-

_CLING!_

Ash barely saw it, he didn't knew how. The ax stopped short from Raichu's temple, as the Mouse Pokémon stopped it with a stubby arm. His trainer didn't know what to think, he held the ax for a moment before withdrawing it, "Raichu," the Pokémon said, his voice sounding very weak, "Raichu, Raichu."

"He said he wasn't going yet," Tesla translated, "Give him time."

"Okay," said Henry, "I'm not arguing with him."

Raichu got up on his feet and rest his hands against the bench, he took a deep breath and exhaled. He sluggishly tried to stand, amazing that he still had any strength at all. Luke pulled out his pistol and tossed on the bench in front of Raichu, everyone went alert and watched what would happen.

"He doesn't have any fingers." said Henry.

"Accuracy wouldn't be his problem." said Natas.

Raichu stared at the gun for a moment, Ash quickly covered his Pikachu's eyes as he knew things would get ugly. The fully-evolved Mouse Pokémon straightened his back and glanced back at his friends one last time, there wasn't any fear or weakness in his eyes. Raichu knew his time had come, and accepted it.

Then Raichu grabbed the gun and shoved the barrel into his mouth.

The gunshot echoed madly throughout the room, piercing everyone's ears. The magnum round didn't lodge itself into Raichu's skull as it should, but blew straight out the back and embed itself in the ceiling instead. Taking blood and brain matter with it in its brief trip and scattered it all over the floor and ceiling. Raichu slumped over and bumped into the bench before flopping on his back, his eyes were closed and his face was peaceful. Like he was sleeping, but that didn't help his trainer one bit as he got to his knees before his Raichu.

"Damn, Raichu," said Henry as he watched blood pool from the back of the Mouse Pokémon's head, "Why do you have to make things more dramatic?"

"Think about it, Henry," said Mark, "You two always make things dramatic."

Henry's face showed realization, "Of course, he wanted to do it himself."

Pikachu tried to peer out but Ash kept his hand over his Pokémon's eyes, there was already too much blood and he didn't want Pikachu to see it. He stepped away and tried to make his way to the door, but Tesla blocked the way.

"I hate to interrupt your moment of a moral lesson," said the talking Pikachu, "But we have to _remove _the body."

Without warning, Wally came running into the room. Tesla stepped aside to make room for Wally, which in turn cleared the way. Ash wanted to leave the room but couldn't. Why wouldn't he move?

"What happened?" Wally asked him

"We've dealt with another infected." said Ash.

Wally turned to Mark as he strolled up, the two shook each other's hands, "Mark, It's good to see you again."

"Nice to see you too, Wally." said Mark.

"Where's your Dad?"

"He's holding the FCPD together, trying to defend Faraday City from the Walkers. It's a stalemate, so far. Oh, a while you're here. Help us take care of Raichu. You remember him, right?"

"Oh damn," said Wally as he looked down at Raichu's body, "I'm going to miss that Mouse Pokémon, he's quite popular back at Faraday City."

"We can host a funeral for him once this blows over." said Henry.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, still blindfolded by Ash's hand. Whatever he was trying to ask, it went ignored.

"I wonder how Togetic is doing." said Misty worriedly as she left the room.

"What about my brothers?" Cilan asked as he left as well.

"Pewter City might be done for." Brock muttered to himself. Just before he left, Henry caught up to him and handed back the fire ax, Brock thanked him and head off to another part of the Pokémon Center.

"Hey Brock," said Tesla as he ran after him, "You have a spare Pokédex on you?"

By the time the room was mostly cleared out, Wally and Henry began to clean up the body. Ash finally left the room and sat back down at the lobby. He stared at the corner of the room and tried to shake loose the cobwebs in his head, the shock still had a grip on his emotions but fought back. He let's go of Pikachu, but his Mouse Pokémon stayed on his lap. Not wanting to leave his side. Pikachu looked up at him with sad eyes before turning away.

"Ash?" Delia called out.

Ash looked and saw his mother approach, "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's your other Pokémon, the ones you had with you?"

"Unfezant has the sky to herself outside, the rest are . . . I better go find them, I'll be right back."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	12. Ch 12: Logistics

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XII_

_Logistics_

For Iris' Emolga, it was a nightmare beyond her imagination. She had missed the scene with that Pikachu, and the scene of the evolved form, whom died of two related yet independent events. Her trainer had wondered off, but her Axew stayed with her. Emolga met up with the rest of Ash's current Pokémon, she glanced at all of them but dared not make eye contact with Snivy.

She couldn't understand what Iris told her about how the world changed overnight, couldn't understand that friends were _dying _and coming back as _Undead_. Undead, was that what those things were called? Iris' Emolga had caught glimpses of them outside by looking through a window. They appeared to be former human beings, but there were Undead Pokémon in the mix, though not that many. Seeing the blood on them, followed by exposed bone and gore, was just disturbing. But that was just looking at them in the distance, not in person.

As Iris' Emolga juggled that thought in her mind, her friends sat by and ate their rations. They weren't happy, but weren't sad either. There wasn't much Pokémon food, all they were getting was a kilogram of food per day. Iris' Emolga would use Attract to try to coax the other Pokémon into give her some, or maybe all, of their rations for the day. But the plan was a short-term solution, soon there wouldn't be any food. Born and raised as a wild Pokémon, Iris' Emolga knew how scarce food can become. The feeling was mostly sore in the heart.

The only good _and _bad news was, she wasn't the only Emolga to figure it all out.

To her disbelief, and the satisfaction of her rival, Mark's shiny sprite Emolga came walking into the room, happy to see everyone. Pignite, Scraggy, and Oshawott were happy to see her. Pansage shook her hand and gladly exclaimed on how good it was to see her. Before Iris' Emolga could step away, her brown fur sprite counterpart gave her a big hug, "Emo, Emolga." she cooed, _Hello again, friend._

Iris' Emolga couldn't work up much hate for Mark's Emolga, one reason was that they had a lot in common. They were both lazy and gluttonous. But anything they had in common stopped there, Mark's Emolga was more extreme in being lazy and gluttonous. She was also more inappropriate with certain situations, Iris' Emolga could never forget what had happened after she was pressured by Tesla to use Attract on Mark's Emolga in the Apple Dispute. What was very interesting was she never shown anger, not even a grumble. She just wanted to make friends, not rivals.

So when Iris' Emolga grabbed her counterpart's shoulders and shoved her aside, Mark's Emolga fell to the floor and laughed. Everyone but Snivy laughed as well.

"Emolga Emolga Emolga Emo?" Iris' Emolga asked, _What's going on out there?_

That was when things got serious, "Emo Emolga Emolga Emo... Emolga," explained Mark's Emolga, _Nothing but... Death._

"Emolga Emolga Emolga." _I'm surprised you're able to last this long._

"Emolga Emo Emo." _Mark had early warning._

"Emolga?" _From whom?_

"Emolga. Emolga Emo Emo Emolga, Emolga Emolga." _His dad. Mark simply packed up shop and we got out of there, just in time._

"Oshawott, Osha?" asked Oshawott, _What else is out there?_

Mark's Emolga smirked, "Emo Emo, Emolga." _Good loot, for the taking._

"Emooollga," she continued, holding up a finger, "Emolga Emolga Emolga." _Buuut... Only for a limited time._

"Pansage," said Pansage, "Pan Pan Pansage Pan?" _Emolga, is there any food out there?_

Mark's Emolga shrugged, "Emolga, Emo Emo Emolga." _Besides us, no other food in sight._

_At least she still had her sense of humor_. Iris' Emolga thought. Then again, that might not be humor at all. She tried not to think of it.

The door creaked open and Mark stepped on through, "Emolga?" he called out her name.

"Emolga," cried Mark's Emolga as she ran straight for her trainer, "Emolga, Emolga, Emolga!" _Mark! Mark! Mark! Maarrkk!_

The Emolga ran straight up Mark and began licking all over his face, "Oh you sweet thing," the trainer said as he and his Pokémon touched noses, "You _sweet _thing."

"Emo, Emo Emolga." said Mark's Emolga. _No, you sweet thing!_

Mark's Emolga climbed back on her trainer's shoulder and perched itself, then Mark turned his attention to the other Pokémon, "So how are you guys holding up?"

_Fine_, All the Pokémon said in the Pokémon language. Though Mark didn't understand it, a simple nod and the reassuring tone of their voices was enough for the message to come through.

"It's a nightmare out there," said Mark, "Me and Emolga stayed up all night just to get here. We thought we could avoid most of the Undead by taking a detour off the main road. Instead, we avoided most of the Undead humans. All of the wild Pokémon out there are infected with the Undead plague, down to the last bird and bug type Pokémon. Pretty much almost every living thing out there is Undead now."

Mark let that thought settle in for a moment before he continued, "Well, you guys are lucky for being on the Island. Unova's devastated, or what Tesla was telling us. I've been listening to the radio and they said the cases over there is as bad as he claimed. Phone lines are down, so is the TV. You probably noticed the TV already."

"Hey, Mark," someone called out from the hall, "Give us a hand with this, will yah?"

Mark spun around and left the room, "I'll be right there!"

He took his Emolga with him, for much of Iris' Emolga's relief. At that moment, the thought finally sunk in. Every Pokémon here, well most of them, were trained to battle other Pokémon. Not the Undead, not even _Undead _Pokémon. She never liked to battle. If this apocalypse keeps up, she may never had to battle again. That thought made her smile inside, which helped eased the pain that food was more limited now. She was going to be hating her stomach for a while, but that happy thought would keep her going – For now.

**. . .**

"I've counted up the food stock, Nurse Joy," said Cilan as he went through the list on the clipboard for the 4th time, "I managed to come up with a number."

"How many days will it all last?" Nurse Joy asked.

"If everyone, human or Pokémon, get two cans of food per day, we should have enough food that will last us at least 3 weeks."

"That much?"

"There's a lot of people and Pokémon here. For us to stay well fed for the long-term, we must have a food supply that would last us 3 to 6 months. During the initial outbreak of the Undead, the obvious places were mostly looted. It would take a clever person or Pokémon to find food that were well hidden before hand."

"You can count on me." said a voice.

Cilan and Nurse Joy turned towards the door and saw Tesla, standing right on his hind legs, "I'm an expert scavenger, ever since I was born."

"But Tesla," said Cilan, "You're-"

"I may be old, Cilan, but all hands must play their part. I know this island like the insides of a Pikachu, and I'll tell you right now that few fruits and vegetables grow naturally on this island. Agriculture's crap here due to poor nutrients in the soil, but give me enough spare parts and I'll build you a hydroponics farm within a day or two."

"You sound like an eccentric." commented Nurse Joy.

"So's my trainer, he built a cybernetic arm after his real one was traumatically amputated by an . . . Accident," Tesla paused and looked away for a moment, then refocused his attention back at Cilan, "Well anyway, are you alright, Cilan? You nearly lost your head when you tried to call home, only to find the lines cut off."

"I'm fine," said Cilan, almost sounding blunt, "Or at least I think so."

"Cilan," said Tesla, "You have friends here who need your help. I don't know how your family members are handling the Undead nightmare, but I also have relatives of mine trying to scrape by as well. Hear me out. If you go insane in this situation, Cilan, you may not reclaim lucidity. Which in turn, will jeopardize your friend's safety and might throw you into the ranks of the very creature that's causing all this."

Cilan knew where this was going, and he didn't like it. He thought of something to change the subject, and thought of it fast, "You have something else to do?"

Tesla nodded, "I do, in fact. If you need any help with food, or your personal issues, talk to me. Okay?"

"I will, Tesla."

As Tesla walked off, Cilan kinda wish Tesla hadn't brought his family up. He didn't wanna think of all the kinds of horrors Chili and Cress were facing. Striaton City was overunned, but the gym sits just outside the city, away from the chaos. There was enough food and water to last for months, maybe 2 or 3 years. But there were no guns, no suitable weapons there, so-

"Cilan?" Nurse Joy asked.

Cilan snapped out of it and got back to focus, "Oh yeah, now how much water does the average Pokémon need per day?"

**. . .**

The other Pikachus gathered around Max, seemingly quite curious of the boy. One of them bounced up and jumped on him, Max laughed as the Pikachu licked his face like crazy. Even as he pushed the Pikachu away, the mouse Pokémon persist on giving him "kisses." They were the most friendly Pikachus Max and May had ever met.

"Stop," said Max as he pushed the Pikachu away again, "That tickles!"

"Pikachu!" cheered the Pikachu as it tried to lick him some more.

"They seem to like you." said May as she sat on the bed, watching the Pikachus play with her little brother.

"They're more friendlier than Ash's Pikachu," said Max as he grabbed the one licking him and gave it a big hug, "They don't shock or anything."

May had talked to Nurse Joy an hour earlier about the Pikachus. She said that the Pokémon were bred to be this nice. Certain traits were carefully selected and amplified through several generations of selected breeding, until the desire result was achieved. 23 Pikachus were sent in from Kanto, delivered by airplane a while kept in a well maintained environment, and brought here by truck. They weren't placed in cages throughout the trip, since that would negate their personality. All the Pikachus came into the Pokémon Center on their own feet, and remained there ever since.

The average observer thought that the Pikachus were to provide electric power to the Pokémon Center in case of a blackout, but that was their secondary job. Their primary job was to entertain and keep the trainers and their Pokémon company. Sometimes children were brought in, and the Pikachu played with them. Interestingly they can be rough on the Mice Pokémon, but they let it slide. Amazing that the Pokémon can handle such unintentional abuse and not get angry, or try to bite or shock. It was incredible!

One of the Pikachus came up to May and rubbed its head against her leg, she chuckled as she picked it up and held the Pikachu in her arms, "You're so cute," she said to the Pikachu as if it was an infant, "Yes, you are..."

May tickled the Pikachu's belly, the mouse Pokémon laughed and giggled. It tried to reach up and lick her face, but May held it down. These Pikachus were a bit too playful, maybe a bit too young. No matter, they're great companions to have in a world gone overtaken by the Living Dead.

**. . .**

Ash checks up on the sick Pikachu again. Its condition was getting worse, Ash could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand when he approached the overcharged mouse Pokémon. It was heartbreaking to watch, since his Pikachu had suffered such a condition before. Back then, help was easily obtained. Not this time. There was no Magnemite to absorb the access electricity, no special machine to ground it. Why does illness for electric-type Pokémon had to be this bad?

The sick Pikachu moaned, sounding like he was going to cry. Ash held back his tears, he wanted to touch the Pikachu and comfort it that way. But he could be electrocuted. Speaking of electrocution, this Pikachu was getting more dangerous. What was the risk again, explosion? Ash felt his heart sink to his stomach at the thought.

"Pikachu."

Ash saw a Pikachu approach, he soon realize it was his Pikachu when it crawled up his pants leg and perched itself on his shoulder. He just about cried when he saw the sick Pikachu in its tiny bed. It was weak, really weak. It could barely move.

It opened its eyes, soft as they were. He looked up and saw Ash, it didn't say anything but the Pikachu seemed comforted by his presence. Ash and his Pikachu return the stare, not sure what to do. Heck, they didn't know what they can do for the sick Pokémon. Any ideas were up for grabs at this point, or that was how things appeared.

The Pikachu tried to get up, but it exhausted itself. It almost cried again, but then again it was too tired to cry. Ash wanted to communicate to the sick Pikachu, but he wouldn't be able to understand it. Then a lightbulb clicked in his head, Ash abruptly turned around and left the room.

"Pikachu?" his Pikachu asked, probably wondering where he was going.

Ash searched the rooms and soon found Tesla in the small library, he held up the Pokédex Brock had retrieved and gave it a final look, "Done." said Tesla.

"Tesla," said Ash, "I need your help."

"You always need my help," said Tesla, almost sounding rude, "But what are friends for?"

Tesla handed Ash the Pokédex, "I modified this Pokédex to work on the Undead, and in some unusual situations and random encounters. Just aim that Pokédex at a dead body for example and you can get some information on how to dispose of it, or use it as bait."

"Thanks," said Ash as he pocketed the Pokédex, he'll investigate it later, "I need to ask you something."

"Say it."

"You know of the Pikachu that had the Electric Flu, in the Pikachu room?"

"The Pikachu room," chuckled Tesla, "Is that what they call it? Uh, yes, I do know of the sick Pikachu. Nurse Joy doesn't want me in there when I asked her about it. Why deny me from my own kind? I don't have a freaking clue, but I'm not complaining. Well, since she's distracted at the moment, let's see what I can do."

Tesla got up and followed Ash backed to the room, the old Pikachu hopped on the wall counter and approached the sick Pikachu, "Reminds me of my cousin," Tesla commented when he saw the state of the Pikachu, "Never seen a bad case of the Electric Flu in almost 85 years."

"Ask him if he want anything." said Ash.

"Sure."

Tesla asked the sick Pikachu in the Pokémon language, the overcharged mouse Pokémon muttered a request under its breath, "He wants a special herbal medicinal drink that has an anti-histamine and acetaminophen."

"What does it do?" Ash asked.

"He said it would take care of his sinuses and clear his airway, also makes him feel better. Acetaminophen does a good job against the regular flu, anti-histamine must be the stuff that clears your airway. I'd done some research on the drugs, the definition said it would. Well, I hope Nurse Joy doesn't objects."

"Pikachu." the sick Pikachu muttered.

"She won't? Okay. Where does she keep it."

"Pika... Pika... chu..."

"I'll be right back."

Tesla jumped down and left the room, within minutes he came back with a jar of green liquid that looked like juice. He held it up to Ash and the trainer took it, "Just give it to him." said Tesla.

Ash opened the bottle, it gave off a vinegar-like odor. It reminded him of the medicine that Iris gives to Pokémon to make them feel better, maybe this was the professional version of that medicine. He handed the bottle to the sick Pikachu and it took it with shaky arms. It managed to use all of its available strength to sit upright, Ash resisted the urge to help it due to the danger of being shocked. The sick Pikachu took a sip of the medicine in 5 second intervals. After 3 minutes it drank half of the bottle before handing it back, the sick Pikachu sat back and let out a smile, "Pikachu."

"Keep the bottle," said Tesla, "He'll might need it later."

"I hope you improve, Pikachu." said Ash.

The sick Pikachu nodded and looked off at the ceiling, still smiling as its red cheeks still sparkle with electricity. Ash found the sparks dazzling, for some reason.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	13. Ch 13: Sinking In

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XIII_

_Sinking In_

Another cold night engulfed Faraday Island's part of the world. It was somewhere around 3 degrees Celsius, not cold enough to freeze, yet but enough to make anyone shiver without protective clothing. Tesla sat on the roof and kept a lookout for any threats. The fire barrel burning beside his chair was blazing well and giving off plenty of heat. The old Pikachu it felt comforting, though it reminded him on the outlaw years that recently ended just a few months ago. What was reassuring about it was that he was no longer alone in survival mode, but he knew well that could be temporary.

The dead were coming back, popping out of their graves to turn the Living into Undead. Through it all, the world was still turning, and the moon with it. Regardless on what was happening around the planet that supports life. The world didn't care what was happening. The plants didn't get sick, they're doing quite fine. If anyone orbits the planet around the day side, they'll find no obvious signs of an apocalypse. No erupting volcanoes, no flowing lava, just a whole lot of green and blue.

But look at the dark side, and there wasn't much to look at but tiny trickles of lights, if there were any at all. Tesla looked at the direction of Faraday City and saw its lights still shining brightly, despite being mostly uninhabited by now. The old Pikachu shrugged, every building in Faraday City produces and stores its own power, regardless if it was being used or not. It was a shining beacon of hope in the distance to the untrained observer. But deep down, Tesla knew better. The city _could _be lost.

Fewer and fewer radio reports were coming in, mainly because some of the radio stations were overunned by the Undead. A few HAM radio operators were garrisoned in outposts or private safehouses and were still chatting away. Tesla listened to the chatter on the police radio, soon realizing that the chatter became conversations. He picked up the mic and thought about what to say, after a minute of holding the thought he put the mic back on its slot and sat back in his chair. Groaning.

Within the distances, an Undead stumbled into view. Tesla got off the stool and grabbed Mark's varmint rifle, who lend it for anyone to use a while keeping an eye out on the roof. It felt odd in his hands, not because his hands were too small for the rifle, but because he was shot by it. For some reason, it felt strange to hold the very gun that tried to kill him some time in the past.

To come to think of it, a lot of people and Pokémon tried to kill Tesla. On the worst possible days, Tesla wish they had. He was too mellow to care much anywhere. Might as well make some use of himself and help others, before his time comes around.

Tesla aimed the varmint rifle and hovered the cross hairs of the scope over the Undead's head. He quickly determined the distance, 175 meters; Then the wind speed, a bare 3 KPH; Humidity, somewhere near zero percent. After getting the other environmental factors plugged in, Tesla adjust the scope to compensate for the suppressor. He did not have to worry about the noise, though the range would greatly be affected. Tesla held his breath and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet struck the Undead's head, barely making a _put _sound. It pierced the corner of the zombie's forehead and temple and it dropped, the neighborhood didn't notice another Walker got euthanized. Tesla stared at the corpse for a moment before withdrawing the gun. He sat it aside and hoped back on the chair, then wrapped a blanket around himself to stay warm. There was nothing to celebrate, just one less Undead to worry about.

Once settled back in, Tesla stared at the streetlights down below as they glow brightly. Several other small buildings had their lights on, though they had been on since the first day of the Undead outbreak. It was a reassuring sign that civilization might still be salvaged, if there was any possible chance. He looked on through the other parts of Carson, after staring out for a moment he noticed a whole block went dark.

"What the?" he muttered to himself.

Odd, a corner of Carson had lost power. A few seconds later, the blocks around it went dark. Two seconds later, the blocks around that went dark. Before the next second came, the rest of the town went pitch black. The streetlights below and several lights from the abandoned buildings blackened, finally the Dark Ages had hit. Strangely though, Faraday City was still lit up. But that was no surprise. Carson was dependent on the Faraday Island Hydrogen Power Plant, either the staff gave up on trying to keep it running or the Undead had infested it. Either way, the Island's main source of power was lost.

Tesla felt a chill run up his spine, now he was starting to feel scared.

**. . .**

The world blacked out on Ash, yet he was still conscious. He was eating his ration of food with his Pokémon in the living quarters when it caught him off-guard. His initial reaction was shock, though someone might had turned off the lightswitch, "What just happen!?" Max cried, somewhere in the far back of the room.

"Who turned off the lights?" Brock added.

"Emolga!" cried Emolga, Ash couldn't tell if it was either Mark's or Iris' Sky Squirrel Pokémon.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, "Pika P! Pika P!"

Ash sat his ration aside and felt around in the darkness, within seconds he felt something furry, "Pikachu!" Pikachu cried in shock.

"Pikachu," said Ash, "It's me!"

The trainer picked up Pikachu held on to him, he then rooted through his backpack and grabbed what he thought was a flashlight. When he clicked it on, a faint light appeared on the wall, "Ugh," muttered Ash to himself, "Dead batteries."

Without warning, a bright and powerful light appeared on the wall. It was so bright that it was enough to light up the room and overcome Ash's flashlight, Ash turned towards the source and saw it was Mark. He held the flashlight in one hand and his Emolga in the other, "Where's the breaker box?" he asked everyone, sounding more annoyed than surprised.

"It should be downstairs," said Brock, "In the hall."

"Got it, I'll be back in a sec."

"Mind if I come with you, Mark?" said Ash.

"Yeah, I would like an extra hand."

Pikachu and Emolga climbed onto their trainer's shoulders as they left the room, Mark and Ash walked downstairs and passed several terrified survivors. They were all caught off-guard as well, not expecting the lights to shut off suddenly. After walking downstairs, Ash looked around and saw the breaker box in question, "There it is."

Ash walked up to it and opened it up, he saw a panel covered with multiple different switches with numbers on them. He had no idea where to begin, "Here," said Mark as he shined his flashlight over the breaker box, "Let me take a look."

"What's wrong with it?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"All the breakers seemed fine," said Mark, "None of them were tripped, not even the main breaker."

He put his finger over one of two big red switches. One was labeled, BACKUP, the one Mark had his finger on was, MAIN. Both labels were written in a black permanent market, "Looks like we're in a blackout." he concluded.

"We are," said Wally as he came up, carrying his own flashlight, "The whole town is pitch black."

"Mark," Ash asked, "What's the other red switch for?"

"That's the breaker to the backup generator," said Mark, "Whatever that may be. We'll let the Pikachus sleep for the night, then we'll call them up to restore power in the morning."

Mark flipped off the main breaker and shuts the panel door, "I guess it's now bed time. We best head to bed, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Mark."

"Don't let the Walkers bite."

"Very funny." Ash said sarcastically.

"Pika." Pikachu groaned.

"Eh," said Mark, "Tough audience."

"Emolga." his Emolga backed him up.

Ash and Mark walked back to the living quarters where they meet back with worried friends, they already realized what had happened as Cilan was looking out the window, "A blackout?" he asked.

"The whole town to the looks of it," said Mark, "Looks like the Walkers had finally got to the power plant."

"This is bad." muttered Iris as she clutched Axew.

"Axew." the Tusk Pokémon shivered.

"It's going to get cold tonight guys, temperature's hovering around freezing and the Pokémon Center won't hold all of its heat. We'll figure out how to restore power to the building around daytime. Right now, we should try to stay warm."

Mark approached his bed, a simple camping cot with a thick blanket covering it, then shut off his flashlight. He grabbed a blanket from underneath the cot and set his pillow in place, Mark kicked off his shoes and cuddled his Emolga in his arms. She cooed softly as she tucked herself into her trainer's side, once settled in Mark relaxed and just slept like that.

Ash picked up his rations and finished it, he thrown the tin can into the nearby trash can and pulled the bed sheets and comforter over him. Pikachu quickly got settled in, but was still shivering badly, "Relax, Pikachu." the trainer assured his Pokémon.

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered, within seconds his shivering mostly ceased.

Ash turned off his flashlight and dropped it back into his backpack, his eyes wondered off to the nearby couch where he saw most of his Pokémon were tucked into their own blankets. Pignite laid on the floor with a blanket over him, letting out soft snores as he slept. Ash wondered how his Pokémon managed to fall asleep this fast, were they that tired? They should have nightmares after they saw what happened to Sparky.

That could wait till tomorrow, Ash laid back and stared up at the ceiling. Without saying goodnight, he fell asleep within minutes.

**. . .**

Natas went through the basement of the Pokémon Center, looking for anything that can be used later on. He had already barricaded the entrance to the Faraday Island Pokémon Center's network. The tunnel system had strange sounds coming up from the deep, the Undead might had infested the network system. Great, just what everyone needed. With the power off, Natas was forced to work with just a flashlight with the power out. Well, at least the flashlight put out a good amount of lumens.

He pushed a box aside with his foot, kicking up some dust as he cleared a path to get through. It was a while for anyone to clean this part of the Pokémon Center, he wondered if the special cache was still there. Could be. There were no footsteps heading towards the way he was going, not the obvious way. For the next person who would be stumbling around down here, Natas had to leave a random trail around the store-like shelves and other furniture. The cache was placed somewhere on the other side of the basement, far away from the backup generators as possible. There was a chance that no one should tamper the cache with their curiosity, it was too buried deep within random boxes of crap.

Luke approached a small corridor and passed several more boxes of miscellaneous material, he stared at a small box, it was pushed up against the corner of the room. Natas peaked over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking, he held his breath and listened. Just silence. He quickly got down to his knees and pushed the box aside, then pried up the tile underneath it.

Hidden away from the medical and security staff of the Pokémon Center's basement was a small digital safe with the letter "R" painted in a red-orange above the four-digit keypad. Luke typed down a password on the key pad, what was his serial number again? Hopefully the safe would grant him clearance, he was a senior member of Team Rocket after all. The new boss demanded to produce experiments, unlike his predecessor, Giovanni, he was more patient – and destructive. He turned his interests, and most of Team Rocket's ambition, away from Pokémon and focus more on some universal and paranormal boundaries. Most of Team Rocket's employees and criminal members had not a single clue of the chance of management. Though Natas did, he didn't know how his new boss took Giovanni's job. He didn't wanna know.

Now, with the Undead roaming the Earth, the new boss was willing to use Team Rocket members who served under Giovanni as lab rats, along with their Pokémon. The new members came in, having been hardened by war and had trained experience when dealing with intelligence. They're _spies_, that who they were. That was their job, or their was more in the contract that they had signed that told them otherwise. The same situation happened to Luke Natas about a few weeks ago, or was that a month. He was briefed in what was about to happened to the world, and the new boss wanted him to keep Ash Ketchum alive through it all until further notice.

_What does the boss want with the boy anyway? _Natas thought as he pressed the enter button on the keypad.

A green light shown and the safe clicked open, he pulled up the door and looked inside. "Whoa." he said in a barely audible tone.

Inside was a magnum, slightly bigger than his Desert Eagle. He picked it up and held it in his hand, it felt heavy, giving him a sense of power. Natas picked up the ammo box that came with the gun and examined it. The box had the old Team Rocket logo on it, with a black background. That told him nothing. So Natas opened the box and pulled out a round. .357 magnum rounds, powerful stuff, but these weren't the ordinary kind. Natas opened up the box and pulled out a round, "Hollow point," he said to himself, "Coming out of a magnum . . ."

Natas mentally went over his official instruction, _What_, he asked himself, _Is this good intel?_

Hopefully his memory hadn't defeated him, he was required to leave the magnum somewhere that someone might find it. Why? This magnum can cause serious damage to soft tissue, its like carrying a handgun that was loaded with shotgun shells. He didn't really need a new gun, his Desert Eagle does the job just fine. Though he had yet to use his Double-barrelled shotgun, whom he had found during his first few minutes of the apocalypse. That would have to wait, of course.

Natas opened up the chamber and fitted 6 Hollow-Point rounds into it, he clicked it back in place and held it up, _This should work_. He thought.

He shoved the gun into his pants and covered his tracks, Natas put the tile, the safe, and the small box back to where he found it. He got up and walked around the dark room, just to leave some false trails. It doesn't have to be professional, no one wasn't coming down here anyway. By the time he got back up to the first floor, activity was somewhat down. He waved to one of the police officers who was on watch. His eyes were barely open as he sat back in his chair, staring at the corner of the room maybe. He was just as tired as the others.

Natas walked up to the 2nd floor and searched the rooms to find a suitable place to leave the gun, he found one room that had a few benches and chairs. It was a waiting room, there was some reason to come here since it had several bookshelves. Reading material's on high demand during the apocalypse, so this should be a good spot. Natas pulled out the magnum and placed it on one of the benches, with the barrel facing towards him. He pulled the hammer back then left the room without anyone noticing his activities, _Time for bed_. He thought, holding back a yawn.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	14. Ch 14: Bloody Mess

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XIV_

_Bloody Mess_

Morning came around fairly quickly, though it was far from beautiful. The clouds were mostly gray and the sun barely shined, typical for the winter season. By itself it wasn't really creepy, but with the Undead up and walking it completes the horror by reminding the Living what was at stake.

But most don't need reminding.

When the survivors at the Pokémon Center woke up, the air was almost as cold and stale like outside. Wally checked the temperature and saw it was 8 degrees Celsius, that was almost cold as a refrigerator. Brock suggest that they should put in a fire barrel, just to warm up the place But Mark refused, saying that he rather face the Undead than die from Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Ash got up from bed and found how cold it really was, might as well keep the jacket on or something. Pikachu didn't really stir in the bed, amazing that he slept quite well after yesterday's chaos. Just as Ash sat up, Pikachu just opened an eye and watch his trainer got up. Still tired, and not wanting to be exposed to the cold, Pikachu shifted into a new position and went back to sleep. Just as Ash left, his other Pokémon got up and wondered out of the living quarters.

The other trainers' Pokémon got up and wondered out as well, keeping an eye out for any possible dangers in the Pokémon Center. Most were paranoid, as they quickly jump and got into defensive positions in response to any sudden or suspicious noises. Just slamming a door would make one of them jump. To their trainers, it wasn't a good habit for them to be getting into.

Mark and Nurse Joy went down to the basement to get the generators up and going, the machine the Pikachus use to get electricity throughout the building was a simple pool with a metal disc base. They would line up around in a continuous fashion as they grab each others' shoulders, then pump electricity into the circuitry of the Pokémon Center in a single go. Nurse Joy noted that the Pikachus can't provide electricity forever, as they were needed for the short-term. This was the long-term, which would need a proper "mechanical" electric generator.

There was an energy storage unit, it was a battery the size of 2 industrial refrigerators. Any excess electricity gets stored in there, Mark went through the electrical breaker boxes in the basement and flipped a switch. Instantly the lights clicked on, bringing relief to all of those who were using up their precious batteries in their flashlights. But the heating system and boilers didn't kick in, the energy storage wasn't wired to power them. In the other rooms, Mark found a household refrigerator-size fuel cell. Nurse Joy explained that it can be used to power everything in the Pokémon Center for months. But there was one problem, there was no Hydrogen in the storage tanks. Hadn't been for years. So that leads to one final generator, the classic Diesel-powered backup generator.

This generator was tweaked to run off of vegetable oil, new or used. Mark noticed a few green fuel cans, sitting by the side of the generator. When he checked them, he realized there was enough bio-diesel in the cans that can last for a few weeks, for now it was good enough. Mark grabbed one can and filled the generator's tank, it didn't take long to fill the tank. He put the fuel tank's cap on before pressing the generator's start button, the generator turned its dynamos and roared to life. Just as Mark finished everything up, Nurse Joy reactivated the heating system, but turned the temperature down to 19 degrees Celsius. That way, energy was conserved and it won't get too cold. Now finished with today's chores, Mark and Nurse Joy head back upstairs for breakfast.

Just as the morning rations were passed around, the Pokémon complained of the amount of food they were getting. Interestingly enough, not a single human complained. Humans adapt to new environments and situations pretty well, but not their Pokémon. They were a slave to their bodies and their training, most of them only knew Pokémon Battling and nothing else. Most Pokémon hadn't even killed a living creature before, nor see anyone die right before them. The experience with Sparky and Dawn had disturbed a lot of Pokémon, and their trainers were just as scared.

The only Pokémon who had no problem with the sudden change of the world was Tesla, his behavior hadn't really changed from the Undead experience. Everyone looked on as he ate his rations and told stories from his past, some funny, others were a bit vulgar and disturbing. Ash and some of his friends gathered around when he brought up what he learned from the Undead,

"It had happened before," he said, "About several hundred years ago."

"How?" Ash asked.

"I don't know, all I know is why. There are many theories with circumstantial evidence that explained the cause of the Undead apocalypse. One theory suggest that there's too much good in the world, so an evil deity decided to put a curse on life."

Cilan raised an eyebrow, "That's preposterous!"

"Of course it is," Tesla grumped, "Because the dark sides of humanity and Pokémon are still functional _before _the Undead came around, but there's other theories," Tesla took another bite of his canned spam and continued, "The second theory is that a virus had broken out and is infected all forms of life, since the Undead repopulate by biting. But that theory is blown out of the water, because people who are already dead before the apocalypse are coming back."

"Like my grandfather's grandfather." grumbled Mark.

"The third theory," Tesla continued, "A large amount of cosmic radiation struck the planet and brought the dead back to life, however everyone should be horribly sick as radiation damage the DNA in cells within a few hours. But 3 days had passed, and so far none of us are suffering radiation poisoning and losing our hair. So that theory is out of the question."

"Are there other theories?" Brock asked as he finishes his morning ration.

**. . .**

Iris' Emolga wondered what she was doing. She and the other Pokémon were walking or flying down the halls, though it felt like she was at home it also felt all wrong as well. Once again, Oshawott tried to offer her his rations in an effort to sway her heart towards him. That pretty much destroyed her appetite, so she declined. Moments later, Oshawott gave Mark's Emolga his rations. She accepted it, and after wolfing it down in half a minute, gave Oshawott a big hug. The hearts in the Sea Otter Pokémon's eyes were so big that it made the brown back Sky Squirrel Pokémon give him several kisses. Iris' Emolga didn't know what to think, she certainly didn't wanna see any more of it.

She wondered down the hall and saw a Plusle and Minun sitting next to each other on a chair with a Pikachu, playing with them, their scent smelled like they were Mark's Pokémon. Looks like he let his Pokémon out like the other trainers. They were all smiling as they played paddy cake, like they were on top of the world. When Iris' Emolga approached, the small group stopped and took notice, "Pikachu." said Mark's Pikachu as she let out a small wave. _Hi, Emolga._

"Emo," said Emolga, "Emolga?" _Hi, what's up?_

"Pika Pika Pikachu." said the Mouse Pokémon. _Surviving in this new world._

"Emo, Emolga Emolga?" _No. not that. What are you up to?_

Mark's Pikachu shrugged, "Pikachu." _The usual._

"Plusle, Plu Plu Plusle, Plusle Plusle." said Plusle. _That was tense getting out of Faraday City, was it?_

Emolga raised an eyebrow, "Emo?" _What?_

"Minun Minun Minun Minun, Min?" Minun spoke to Plusle. _We were in our Poké balls __through all that, remember?_

It didn't take long for Emolga to figure out that they had mistaken her for someone else, "Emo, Emolga Emolga Emolga." _Guys, I'm _Iris'_ Emolga._

Pikachu and the Cheering Pokémon just looked at her with confused looks, "Pikachu?" asked Mark's Pikachu. _Who?_

"Emo, Emolga Emolga, Emolga, Emolga!" stated Emolga, showing the back of her hands to prove her point. _Look, I'm a normal sprite – not a shiny sprite!_

"Pika..." _Ooohhh..._

"Emolga." the Sky Squirrel Pokémon growled before storming off, _Nevermind._

_They're still idiots, _Emolga thought but didn't say, _Just like they were back in the town of Westinghouse._

Emolga head off towards the stairs and up to the 2nd floor. Just as she was about to walk back to the living quarters, something flashed from the corner of her eye. The Sky Squirrel Pokémon blinked twice and she saw the flash again, it was coming from the other room. Iris' Emolga wondered in, it looked like a waiting room of some kind. She approached the object in question, it sat on the bench under the glow of artificial light. When Emolga got up close, she discovered what it was.

It was a gun, but it wasn't the kind of guns she seen the humans carrying. It was big, intimidating, shiny with chrome plating. Who would leave such a dangerous instrument of destruction here anyway? Emolga thought about it for a second, someone must had lost it. She knew how mentally unstable any human or Pokémon can become, they could wound up finding it and... Oh that would be bad, Emolga shivered from the thought. The only people she does trust was Iris and her companions and their Pokémon, except Snivy of course.

_Gotta turn in the gun to somebody,_ Emolga thought as she stared at the handgun, _Turn it in to Iris?_

Emolga thought about running back to Iris and tell her – no – _show _her about the gun, but someone might be watching and get it before her friends could. The Sky Squirrel decided that the safest bet to take was to bring the gun with her and give it to Iris. She would take it and give it to one of the cops. No way would they give that to an amateur. It was too dangerous, yet again, she did see the handgun strapped to Ash's belt, and knew all too well how he got it. Better bring the gun to either Iris or Ash, this shouldn't be held by some evil person or Pokémon.

Once Iris' Emolga made up her mind, she held up her hand and reached for the gun.

**. . .**

"How did the Undead overtake the world this fast?" Iris asked.

"It happened overnight," said Tesla, "Who was still awake during the first few hours?"

"I was," said Mark, "And so was my dad, he claimed to had seen it happen right before his eyes. I was at home working on a small project when he gave me a call, told me to turn on the news. So I did, I thought it was a joke at first until I saw my father on TV shotgun blast a guy's head off. Literally, clean off."

"Was it awesome?"

"Yeah it was awesome, the guy's head popped like a zit!"

"If I had enough food in my system, I can make several Undead explode. And for those who don't explode, they will be fried to a crisp."

"How are you two enjoying this?" Misty asked in disbelief.

Mark turned towards Misty, "It all reminds me of _Call of Duty_."

"I played it once," Tesla said with a smirk, "I dominated the battlefield."

"I heard about that," said Henry, "Is it true that you trolled someone so much that they destroyed their TV?"

Tesla chuckled, "I trolled so many people, that I lost count of them all. But it sounded like they were destroying their TVs."

Professor Oak stepped in the room, he looked like he was inspired by an idea, "I heard about that on the news," he said, "I didn't believe a Pokémon could ever drive someone mad on video games."

"People take their video games seriously," explained Tesla, "The best part about it is that they're mostly kids and adolescence. Since I'm a master at psychological manipulation – and an expert on urban warfare, believe it or not – I can drive anyone to rage at extreme levels. Too bad those video game days are long gone, but we do have other alternatives in having fun."

"Like zombie killing?" Mark asked.

"Get enough assault rifle ammo, explosives, and a powerful stereo set playing some loud Rock song, and I can show you how to make it a fun day. Just remember, there's no reset button, " Tesla paused and leaned forward, "And I know where to get those supplies."

Everyone raised an eyebrow, "You do?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" his Pikachu added.

"Irvin left behind a ton of caches around Faraday Island, all filled with guns and ammo. The Island government had some funding going into maintaining these caches, I guess all that money had finally paid off, if they're still around."

"Who knows about the location of the caches?" Mark asked.

"Your grandfather, your father, my trainer – Irvin, many of his Pokémon, and me. Most of them are now dead, the rest of course is holding strong . . . I'll tell you what, maybe sometime in the day or tomorrow we'll go out and find one of these caches."

"It's dangerous out there." said Wally.

"And having no weapons is worse," Tesla stated, "Besides, the Undead aren't grouped together as they're used to. Unless someone makes a lot of-"

_BANG!_

The sudden gunshot was so loud that it everyone jump, several people fell of their chairs as their Pokémon scampered on their feet. Ash quickly got up, his Pikachu nearly falling off of his shoulder as he held on. Wally had a hand on his pistol, ready to draw it out. Tesla sat there, surprised as everyone else, "Noise?" he managed to finish his sentence.

"What was that?" cried Misty.

"Sounded like a gunshot," said Wally, "A really powerful one."

Everyone listened and heard someone crying, "Emolga!" sobbed the faint cry of a Sky Squirrel Pokémon.

"Oh no!" cried Iris as she got up.

"Iris," cried Cilan, "Wait!"

"Hold up, Iris," cried Mark, "Not so fast, there could be someone armed and dangerous."

"It's coming from upstairs," said Ash, "Are you sure it's your Emolga, Iris?"

"Could be mine," said Mark, "My Emolga cries pretty loud . . . Oh, please not her!"

"Careful guys," said Wally as he drew his gun, "I'll lead the way."

Everyone got up and followed Wally as he had both hands gripping his pistol, he held it up in a defensive position as he climbed up the stairs. He had it extended out when they made the turn around the stairs, by the time they reached the second floor they saw an Emolga running down the hall, followed by Ash's Pokémon.

"This is a shiny sprite," said Wally, "Mark!"

"Emolga!" cried Emolga as she jumped into Mark's arms.

"Are you alright, Emolga?" Mark asked.

"Emo!" she nodded.

"What happened?"

Mark's Emolga just shrugged, "Emo?"

"She doesn't know what's happening." said Tesla.

"Emolga!" cried an Emolga.

"That's gotta be my Emolga!" cried Iris.

"Axew!" Axew cried.

"In this room!" said Brock.

Wally approached the open door and peered inside, "Holy sh*t!"

When the group rushed in, Ash and his friends followed suit. His jaw dropped at what he saw. Iris' Emolga lay in a pool of her own blood. Bits of flesh and blood were splattered in a cone-shape formation, indicating that the shot went straight through her and blew out like a shower. Ash turned and saw his own Pokémon standing before the scene – all of them – even Snivy, were terrified from the scene. Oshawott staggered on his feet, but caught a chair just in time to keep himself balanced. Scraggy just froze in place, staring at the chaos. Pignite looked away, unable to handle the gore. Snivy just stood there in surprise – Just as terrified – But was struggling on how to react to the situation. She just stood there, her mind almost locked up in shock.

Brock rushed up to Emolga and pushed aside her bloody arms, "Emolga!" she sobbed.

"She's been shot." said Brock.

"Are you a doctor?" Wally asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll step aside, everybody give him space!"

Just as everyone got back, Mark jogged up and saw the scene for himself, "Damn," he said as he looked around, "What the?"

Mark reached down and picked up a magnum, "Who left a gun here?"

"What kind of gun is it?" Wally asked.

"A .357 magnum," Mark checked its cylinder and pulled out a bullet, "Holy crap, its loaded with Hollow Points."

"Hollow Points?" Ash asked.

"It does serious damage to soft tissue," said Mark, "Yet shatters upon hitting armor."

"Emolga!" cried Iris as she tried to reach for her Pokémon.

"Iris!" Cilan cried as she grabbed her by the shoulders.

Misty helped Cilan pull Iris back, "That's my Pokémon!" Iris cried.

"Emolga!" sobbed Emolga.

"Okay," said Brock, "The bullet obviously exited out her back, let's see what kind of damage it did."

When Brock carefully turn her over, he almost jumped back at the discovery. Ash's eyes sunk into his skull, Emolga's back was blown out. A violently ripped out crater at least the size of two fists stretch across Emolga's lower back. Half of her spine was destroyed, along with several organs and muscles. Ash could even see the kidneys, or what was left of them. The aorta and vena cava were gone, two different colors blood flowed out from what was left like water from a garden hose.

Iris scrambled towards the door, then hurled her rations all over the floor. When everyone saw the extent of the damage, they all nearly panicked, "Ahhh!" they all blurted out in disgust and horror.

"I've seen worse." Tesla said, not really terrified of the scene. That wasn't a surprise, he wasn't very sensitive to begin with.

"She's losing blood," said Brock, "Let's get her to the emergency room, stat!"

"Where's Nurse Joy!?" Wally asked.

"I'm right here," she said as she rushed in, "What's the-"

Nurse Joy covered her mouth, trying to hold back her horror from what looked like a massacre had occurred in the room.

"Clear the way, clear the way!" Brock demanded as he picked up the fatally wounded Emolga.

Everyone jumped out of the way as Brock rushed out of the wound, Emolga continued to cry in pain as her life hanged by a thread. Nurse Joy quickly followed behind, some of her Audinos and Chanseys quickly assembled and followed Brock, "Brock," said Nurse Joy, "This way to the ER, it's on the 3rd floor!"

**. . .**

Everyone sat and wait in the lobby, Iris clutched Axew in her arms. The trainer and her Pokémon both cried softly, Delia did her best to keep her comfortable as a couple of the Pokémon Center's Pikachus did their work in keeping her happy. Ash can tell they themselves weren't happy, their efforts were sadly wasted.

Misty pasted back and forth in the room, seemingly biting her nails as she anxiously shiver. She opened her mouth and held up a finger, as if trying to grapple onto an idea. A few seconds later, Misty grumbled to herself and left the room. Ash wondered what was going through her mind. Heck, he wondered what was going through everyone's mind. Cilan was upset over not being able to contact home, Iris was also having the strain over her. Ash wondered what May and Max were up to, he barely saw them yesterday and had yet to see them today. He glanced at the digital clock. Almost noon. What was it that Ash planned to get done? He couldn't remember since Emolga's self-inflicted gunshot wound had derailed the agenda for the day.

Mark hugged his Emolga to try to comfort her, she cried softly under her breath. Seeing another Pokémon get hurt was one thing, but seeing a member of your own kind was much worse. Even though Iris' Emolga didn't view Mark's as a friend, the latter does. Brock must be doing his best to save the Sky Squirrel Pokémon's life, he had Nurse Joy and a team of Chanseys and Audinos helping him. But the size of that wound, especially the destruction of her spine. If Emolga does survive, she wouldn't be able to battle again. Let alone walk on her hind legs.

Ash turned his attention back to his Pikachu, who in turn gave him his attention as well. He was sad, even had some tears in his eyes. Ash stroked the back of Pikachu's head and the Mouse Pokémon cooed under his breath, he rested his head against his trainer for dear comfort. "Hey, Ash?"

The trainer looked up and saw it was Mark who was calling him, "Can I speak to you in the other room?"

"Sure."

Ash got up as his Pikachu climbed up on his shoulder, he followed Mark into the other room where the others wouldn't hear them. His Emolga sit perched on his trainer's shoulder, just as sad as Pikachu, "You need anything, Mark?" Ash asked as they step out of earshot from the lobby.

"How long had you've been traveling with Iris and Cilan?" Mark asked.

"A few months now," said Ash, "Almost a year, why?"

"When we've met, they had dreams of becoming a Dragon Master and Pokémon Connoisseur. You wanted to become a Pokémon Master, right?"

"Yes."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

"Honestly, Ash. If the Undead continues to walk the earth for months, maybe even years, those dreams will never see the light of reality. I'm sorry, Ash, but that is probably going through your friends' minds right now. As harsh as that sound, facing that reality would be a big step in defeating the Undead – If that's ever possible."

Hearing that sent a chill down Ash's spine, followed by his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. He had never really thought of that until now, Ash felt the urge to cry but fought back, "Oh gosh," he managed to say, "You're right . . . But . . . "

"But you're still on your feet," said Mark, "You have friends here helping you, and a few special assets as well. I don't know how you're able to handle killing Undead like a pro when you helped me and my friends in that tight situation yesterday, but I do know that you and your friends are on the edge of their limits. Had Tesla suggested to you to train your Pokémon on how to use firearms?"

"He did," said Ash, "He certainly did."

"Pikachu." nodded Pikachu.

"If you get around to that, here me out. You must thoroughly explain to your Pokémon that the Undead, both human and Pokémon zombies, are no longer living and are just a physical resemblance of their former selves. Even if it was somebody they knew and hold close. If they complain or resist, use immediate discipline. You got to get them to understand what the world had become, cause they surely won't make it on their own."

"How do you know all this?" Ash asked.

"Emolga, my own Pikachu, and the Cheering Pokémon duo love me and present unquestionable loyalty. When I took a look at how our bonds were arranged, I saw the potential danger. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, Ash. If your Pokémon lose _you_, they will die in this world. It used to be us against us, now it's us against them. This isn't like some great Pokémon battle we must all win."

"What do you mean?"

"Our Pokémon were trained to battle other Pokémon, not Undead."

"I figured that one out already."

"Course you did, but did you see the scope on how to defeat Undead? You have to kill them, but knock them out of commission, kill them. And it's going to be messy."

"Thanks for the advice, Mark," said Ash, then he glanced over at his Emolga, "How's your Emolga doing?"

"About to lose it," said Mark, "She sensed something was going down before I figured out what was really going on, that instinct scarred her. I can see that same look in your Pikachu's eyes as well, did he woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night at the start of Day 1?"

"I don't know."

Pikachu tapped the side of Ash's head, he turn towards him, "Pikachu." Pikachu said feverishly with a nod.

"Pikachu..." muttered Ash.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

Everyone turned around and saw Tesla standing before them, "Every Pokémon in the world sensed the Undead before they even realized their existence, if they said no then they're lying. I had early warning too, Ash. I know how it feels, that feeling can drive any Pokémon insane unless they can easily adapt to the change of the world."

"How long had you been standing there?" Mark asked.

"Just now," said Tesla, "Brock came down, he wants us all together before he gives out the news of Emolga's condition."

"I won't be surprised of the results." said Mark.

Ash, Mark, and Tesla walked back to the lobby where Brock stood before the entire group. His shirt and hands were covered with Emolga's blood, indicating how messy it was when working to save her. May and Max stood at the far corner, a bit nervous from what Brock was about to say, "Okay," said Tesla, "Everyone's here, what's the verdict?"

Iris folded her hands hand approached Brock, "How's Emolga?"

"Axew?" the Tusk Pokémon did the same.

Brock glanced down at the floor and shook his head, "She lost too much blood."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	15. Ch 15: I Don't Want A Hug!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XV_

_I Don't Want A Hug!_

"We've moved her in here about 10 minutes ago," said Brock as he led the group down the hall, "The ER was a total mess. I'm sorry Iris, I did the best I could but there was nothing more I could've done."

"I don't blame you, Brock," said Iris, "We were all caught unprepared."

"All I could say it was clearly an accident, the way the gun was positioned when we found Emolga. Had she attempted suicide, the gun would've been next or near her, not sitting on the bench."

"I still wanna know how that gun got there in the first place," Mark said, sounding irritated, "Why would anyone leave a .357 there to begin with?"

"Could it be a trap?" Ash asked.

"The gun was just lying there, if it was a trap someone would also be shot when we walked into that room."

Brock opened the door and the group walked into the room. There was Emolga, laying on her back on a metal table. Most of the blood was washed off her arms and stomach, what was left behind was slightly soaked fur. A towel was placed underneath her to soak up anymore blood from the maw on Emolga's back. Nurse Joy got up from a chair and past the group to leave the room, not wanting to see anymore gore. Misty hesitated and also left. Cilan stood near the door, keeping his distance to give everyone space.

Iris approached her Pokémon's body sheepishly, Axew was speechless as he stared at his friend, "She looks like she's sleeping," she commented, noting the peaceful look on the dead Sky Squirrel Pokémon's face.

"I calmed her down before she died," said Brock, "It was sad to watch."

Iris stroked the fur on top of Emolga's head, "She feels so cold."

"When you lose a lot of blood, you lose heat as well. Hypothermia is common for massive blood loss."

Axew got down from Iris' shoulder and stepped on the metal table, he placed a hand on Emolga's shoulder and head and gave her a shake. A tear trailed down his eye as his emotions seep out of him, "Axew," he cried, "Axew!"

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered in sorrow.

Ash looked down and saw Tesla standing near his feet, one of the old Pikachu's ears twitched and he looked up at him, "I suggest we leave her be," said Tesla, "That way Iris can have closure and get an understanding on what happened to Emolga. So, everybody out."

"Take all the time you need, Iris." said Mark before turning around and leaving the room.

"Emolga." muttered his Emolga, tearing just as bad as Iris and Axew.

When Cilan and Mark stepped out, Ash took one last look at Emolga. Iris stood over her with her head down, sobbing under her breath. Axew tried a vain attempt to "wake" her, but it was futile. Did he understand that when someone dies, they're gone forever and can't come back? This wasn't a good time to tell him, it would just make things worse.

Brock turned to Ash and nod, "Okay, Ash. Let's leave her be."

**. . .**

When the group leaves the room, Iris pulled up a seat and sat in it. She wasn't just crying that Emolga was gone. Her home village was probably gone as well. The environment there was harsh and dangerous for any foreigner, and some Dragon-types were dangerous. But with the Undead walking the earth, the landscape proved ever more harsher. People and Pokémon were dying, some were even struggling to survive, just like the survivors in the Pokémon Center. Just how was everyone coping was beyond belief, this was nothing rational, despite Cilan trying desperately to find a logical reason to the situation.

It was an apocalypse, the world had ended. Well, not exactly. Time still goes on, the planet still spins, the natural cycles of the biosphere still running as if things were actually normal. But the Pokémon and people were discovering – in most cases, the hard way – how fragile life really was. Everyone was desperately trying to hang on to those that was left, only to wound up losing them before their very eyes.

"Axew?"

Iris looked up and saw Axew return the sympathy, a tear streaked down his face as he look at her in the eyes. Not only both their dreams were destroyed, Iris realized Axew might not live long enough to evolve into a Haxorus. Was their efforts all for nothing?

**. . .**

The group stood just outside the door, sitting on some benches. Those who can't find a place to sit simply sat on the floor against the wall, there wasn't much to do but wait. Ash looked around and saw the grief everyone was having. Tesla didn't show any grief, but he did show he was tired. He sat against the wall with his eyes close, probably trying to figure out what to do next like everyone else. Ash didn't know what to do, there was nothing more that anyone could do. Just, why?

Pikachu got off his shoulder and approached Mark, who held his Emolga in his arms to comfort her. Emolga took notice of Pikachu and got up, she crawled up to Pikachu and gave him a hug. Everyone watched without saying anything, probably trying to observe love to make it easier to remember the world as it was before.

**. . .**

Luke watched from the stairwell, out of sight of everyone. He turned away and head back down the stairs. He knew what was about to happen, Natas assumed it was best to stay out of this one and let it play out. He was worried about putting Ash in danger like this, since that wouldn't be something the boss would approve too well. He'll understand, he had to, experiments always have their risks.

Natas imagined the look on everyone's face, life would change for them sure enough.

**. . .**

"What are we going to do, Axew?" Iris asked.

"Axew." The Tusk Pokémon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, hinting he didn't have a clue what to do.

Soon they would have to burn Emolga in the back of the Pokémon Center, she would be greatly missed. Maybe when things go back to normal, Iris would make a small memorial for her back at home. If her home was still there, she didn't know what to do if it were wiped off the face of the earth by the Undead.

"We'll get through this, Axew. We'll just hang on until this whole thing blows over and the world goes back to normal. Just like that, we'll survive. We won't forget Emolga when we met her out in that forest on that fateful day."

A smile soon formed on Axew's face, "Axew."

_He's still willing to fight_. Iris noted.

Suddenly a three-fingered paw came up over Axew's shoulder, Iris wondered what it was until another three-fingered paw appeared. Just when Axew turned around, Emolga tackled him and pinned him to the metal table. Iris' eyes went big when she saw the red eyes, the shock alone petrified her in place.

**. . .**

"AXEW! AXEW! AXXEWWW!"

The group shot up and heard Axew's cries, "What in the world?" Ash asked as he got up.

"Pika P!" Pikachu cried as Ash heads for the door.

When he opened the door, he almost ran off screaming. Emolga was on top of Axew, pinning him to the metal table. Her eyes were glowing red as she growled and roared like a foul creature of the night. Iris sat on the floor with her back against the wall, her eyes locked open in a catatonic state. She didn't come to Axew's aid as he cried for help, she just sat there as her mind absorbed excess horror.

"Axew!" cried the Tusk Pokémon as he gripped Emolga's neck and shoulders, using all of his available strength to push her away as she tried to bite him.

"Oh no," said Misty, "Emolga had turned!"

Ash looked down and saw Tesla at his feet, he saw how surprised he was but saw no fear, "I'll be right back, guys!" said the old Pikachu before he turned and ran off down the hall.

Everyone wanted to help, but they didn't go as far as the door. They feared that they were going to get bit. They couldn't pull out a gun and shoot Emolga because Axew was her hostage, despite the friendship they had in the past. The sudden change in times can never be more harsh, Ash wondered what he could do to help, "Iris!" he called out the trainer's name.

Iris blinked twice and snapped out of her delirium, she looked at Ash and scrambled towards him, "What is happening!?" she cried.

"Emolga's Undead!" Brock stated.

"Go get Wally!" cried Professor Oak.

As Cilan and Brock rushed off to go get Wally, Ash pulled out his gun. He aimed at Emolga's head, but couldn't fire. The risk in hitting Axew by mistake was too great, there was no room to carry that burden in this Undead apocalypse. He needed a moment, no matter how brief, to take the shot. Sure enough, Axew summoned up all his strength and overpowered Emolga. The Tusk Pokémon managed to get on his knees and push his former friend off of himself with a sharp shove. Emolga growled, just as Axew was about to escape she raised up a hand to grab him by the leg.

Ash fired a round and shot Emolga in the shoulder. The round passed through her and embed itself into the wall, spraying black blood in its wake. The Undead Emolga let out an alien-like yelp as she slumped back from the force of the bullet. Axew jumped off the table and rushed back to Iris, his trainer grabbed him and held him dear, "Ash!" Iris cried, sounding a bit mad and confused.

He lowered the gun as Emolga's behavior tuned down. She used her arms and crawled off the metal table, landing on the floor in a sickly plop. When Emolga got on her belly, she growled and snarl angrily as she used her arms to crawl towards her friends, dragging her paralyzed legs a while leaving a trail of dead blood. Axew was so terrified that he froze in fright, just like his trainer. The other group members shot back, once again fearing that they would get bit.

"Shoot her, Ash!" cried Mark.

"Save the ammo," said Tesla as he came back, "I got this."

Tesla ran passed Ash and skidded to a stop, wielding Brock's fire ax. Seeing Tesla as an easier target, Emolga instantly locked on to him and reached out. Tesla rushed up to her and plunged the spike end of the ax into her upper back. The Undead Sky Squirrel Pokémon thrashed her arms, roaring wildly as the old Pikachu dragged her away from the group towards the center of the room. Tesla gave her a push and dislodged the ax, sending Emolga skidding towards the back wall.

She started coming after him, this time crawling much faster than before. Tesla switched back to the edged part of the ax and raised it high, then slammed it down on Emolga's wounded shoulder. The blow let out an audible crack that shocked the air, but the Undead Emolga didn't react much. She just remained growling and roaring without changing volume, still trying desperately to grab on to Tesla.

He pulled the ax out, Ash saw Emolga's arm now twisted in an unnatural position. If she was still alive, this would have hurt a lot. But no, she was dead, she could no longer feel any sort of physical or even psychological pain.

Tesla raised the fire ax again and slammed it down on Emolga, striking her in her back. Again, Emolga ignored it, she just continue to lash her good arm at Tesla as he jumped out of reach. The old Pikachu jumped back as he pulled the ax out again, Emolga flopped her free arm like a fish on dry land, Tesla gripped the fire ax handle as tight as he can before letting out a frustrated growl, "Stop moving you son of a b*tch!"

He raised the fire ax a third time and hammered it down, this time on top of Emolga's head. It crunched and gushed out black blood from the force, Emolga stopped screaming like a monster and started gurgling like a victim. Dead blood bled out of her nose from the force of the ax. Tesla pulled it out again and began a mad chopping spree, crushing the rest of her skull, squishing her red eyes, and ripping apart her brain until it was all an unrecognizable pile of black mush. Ash counted Tesla's strikes, he got to 15 when he embedded the fire ax's head into the remains of Emolga's head and stepped back.

Emolga's arms twitched every few seconds as the oil-like blood oozed out around her, everyone went silent as Tesla stepped back and slumped on his rear. He was panting loudly, exhausted at all the energy he put into euthanizing her. Iris couldn't contain her tears no longer, she stepped back in disarray, "Ash." she uttered in a weak voice.

"That wasn't Emolga anymore." said Ash as honestly as he could.

"EMOLGA!" screamed Mark's Emolga, causing everyone to jump.

Everyone turned and saw her scream at the top of her lungs, she was in a state of panic and shock. Mark's eyes went big as he held tightly to her, he ran off down the hall and took his Emolga to another room. Her screams continued to echo down the hall for the next minute or two until they ceased.

Wally finally ran up the stairs as Cilan and Brock were not far behind, several other cops were there with guns drawn. Ash stepped aside as they rushed to the door and saw that the job was taken care of for them, "Was Emolga bit!?" he managed to say, flabbergasted at the horror of the scene.

"No," said Tesla as he turned and gave him his attention, "Emolga was shot. She died, then came back as one of _them_."

_Amazing that he didn't get any blood on himself_. Ash thought as he saw not a single dark blemish coated Tesla's yellow fur.

"Then how," said Wally, "Did she turn!?"

"She died," said Tesla again, "That's all it took, she died and came back as Undead."

"Good gosh, Tesla," said Cilan as he saw how badly damaged Emolga's body was, "You went all on out on her!"

Tesla got on his hind legs and glared at him, "That wasn't Emolga anymore, that was something else. I smashed her face in so that we won't remember her like this. Do you even realize what this means!?"

"What does it mean?" Ash asked.

"It means that we will become one of them no matter how we die. If it doesn't involve the destruction of our brains, we will come back as Undead and seek out a victim to eat. It doesn't get any simpler than that."

"What's going on," said Natas as he strolled up, "Was there screaming?" When he saw Emolga's corpse he backed off, "Nevermind."

Iris picked up Emolga and pushed passed Wally and the others as she ran out of the room, running down the direction where Mark had ran off with his Emolga. Cilan started to chase her, but Ash quickly grabbed his shoulder and held him back, "Best to leave her alone, Cilan. We need to give her time."

"Okay," said Cilan, "I'll . . . Head back to the lobby and wait for you guys."

As Cilan walked off, Ash saw his Pokémon before him in a state of shock. Oshawott was crying, but no sound came out – Pignite stood there with a blank stare as tears trailed down his face – Scraggy had his baggy skin pulled up over his head to hide his face – and Snivy simply stood there with a blank stare, not moving.

Ash noticed he still had his gun in his hand, he holstered the weapon then got down to his knees. He rested a hand on Snivy's shoulder and asked, "Snivy, are you okay?"

She had a troubled relationship with Iris' Emolga when they met, no doubt that the rivalry between them was strong since their personalities are opposite of each other. Snivy was the most mature Pokémon Ash had ever had, never overreacting to any situation, good or bad, unless angry. The fact that she may had seen Emolga on the edge of death, then watch her fall all the way down inwards, then saw her come back up as an Undead, and then finally being knocked back down again. She just saw that rival die right before her, the situation clearly demands her response.

Tesla approached and waved a hand in front of Snivy's face, she blinked and gave him her attention, "Talk to me, Snivy." said Tesla.

"Snivy Sniv, Snivy Snivy Sniv. Snivy... Snivy... Snivy," Snivy closed her eyes as a noticeable tear trailed down her face, "Sniv . . . ee."

"I've always hated Emolga," Tesla gave Ash the translation, "But when I saw her die, I felt no hate, no joy, no satisfaction of payback or revenge."

"Snivy Snivy Sniv." Snivy sobbed under her breath.

"I guess I couldn't live without her." Tesla gave Ash the complete message.

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered, sounding like he was going to cry as well.

"If Snivy's crying," said Ash, "Then that means . . ."

"This Undead apocalypse had stepped up a level," said Tesla, "Wally's right, our friends are dying right before our eyes. And if we get them back . . . Oh we are so screwed."

"Oshawott," screamed Oshawott, "Oshawott! Oshawott! Oshawott!"

Tesla approached Oshawott and grabbed him by the shoulders, and slammed his back into the wall pinning him in, the Sea Otter Pokémon struggled but could break free from the old Pikachu's death grip, "For f*ck sake," swore Tesla, "Emolga's gone, Oshawott. If you think that your tears would bring her back, it won't completely bring her back. Iris and Axew tried that, and looked what happen!"

"Oshwa-"

Tesla cut Oshawott's scream short by pulling him off the wall and slamming his back into it again, then quickly put a hand over his mouth, "Shhh," he whispered, "Listen!"

Everyone held their breath. Ash wondered what they were listening for, and then he heard it. Soft moans and groans were coming from outside, Ash got up and approached the window. He saw several Undead humans and Pokémon stroll out of the buildings towards the Pokémon Center, their arms stretched out with their jaws partially open, "All your screaming is going to do is announce you're a tasty meal to those things," said Tesla, "It's a fate worse than what happened to Emolga, you can be sure of that."

"Pikachu," Pikachu rushed up to Tesla, "Pika Pika Pikachu. Pika Pika P. Pika Pika. Pika Pika Pika, Pika Pika Pika Pikachu. Pika Pika Pika Pikachu?"

Tesla just stared at him for a moment, then let's go of Oshawott, "Pika Pika, Pikachu." He said in the Pokémon language and voice.

The old Pikachu walked off and headed downstairs, leaving everyone to wonder what just happened. By the time Tesla was out of sight, Ash turned back towards his Pikachu, "What did you say to him, Pikachu?" He asked, knowing it was a stupid question.

Pikachu just shrugged, but Ash saw the leftover terror from the experience with Emolga still in his eyes.

"What's got over Tesla?" Wally asked.

Ash turned to Wally, "Whatever it is, I think it's the same thing that's got over us."

Next he turned to Professor Oak, "Professor?"

"Yes, Ash?" he asked.

"Do you know how to comfort grief-stricken Pokémon?"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	16. Ch 16: The Electro

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XVI_

_The Electro_

Word spread throughout the Pokémon Center about the grizzly news, it should sway anyone from committing suicide. But that was doubtful. Now that everyone realized the three modes that can occur for one to become an Undead, the thought of survival was stepped up. Again, the Undead was considered to be a formidable enemy by Tesla and Mark. But how formidable was beyond anyone's imagination, at least for the moment.

The Undead that somehow heard Mark's Emolga's screaming had finally wondered off, Natas, Brock, and Mark moved in to dispose of Iris' Emolga's body. She was wrapped in a white blanket to prevent anyone from looking at her, but when she was taken outside the blanket was halfway covered with blood. Natas wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel bad or not, since he was indirectly responsible for the Sky Squirrel Pokémon's death.

Then again, he had already seen enough Pokémon die and more will die in the near future. It would always be more gruesome and horrifying no matter what the good of humanity can do. Though Natas didn't see it happen before him, he was assured that the good of the world cannot overcome this apocalypse. After thinking about it a little bit, the evil of the world can't do so either. Luke seen a lot of generosity and love in the last few days, but also saw their opposite. That Tesla showed almost no emotion when putting the Emolga down, he almost looked like he _enjoyed _it.

Tesla's trainer was a member of Team Rocket himself, however it was only part-time. He never joined the criminal organization full-time since he had his own goals to accomplish, and he didn't have the heart to be evil. Tesla himself was slightly different. He was a member of Team Rocket as well, but only officially. Tesla never considered himself a member, even though he partake in some of its activities during his glory days and used the organization to his own benefit, just like his trainer. Nonetheless the old Pikachu was a victim of Team Rocket's activities, so letting him in on the new leader's plans would be a bad idea. That doesn't mean he can't entirely be trusted. Tesla's relationship with the Ketchum boy and his Pikachu was so great, that it would be considered as a bond.

But no, Tesla's independent. He doesn't need a trainer anymore. But the way he was helping Ash, the elder Mouse Pokémon could be _training_ the boy to survive in this new world. Natas wondered if a little incentive would force Tesla's hand and showing his evil side, if there was one to show.

"Okay," said Brock, "Here."

The trio approached the pile of ashes before him, there was some body parts sticking out which may upset the most sensitive people. Natas wasn't phased, all they hint was what this Emolga would become. Just ashes, fertilizer for some wild plant. Not a pretty way to spend the rest of an after-life, but its a good way to recycle and clean up dead bodies. Mark pours the butane lighter fluid all over the ashes as Brock and Natas placed the body on top of the pile, Mark soaked the white blanket with the butane fluid and stepped back, "That should do it," said Mark, "You have a match?"

Brock opened a pocket and pulled out a box of kitchen matches, he strike a match on the side of the box. He then chucked the lit match over Emolga's body and stepped back, her corpse quickly caught fire and began to burn brightly. The blast of heat felt reassuring in the cold air, but it was marking an end to a life that ended by accident. Natas looked away from the fireball to avoid getting blinded by the light.

"Alright," said Mark, "Let's head back inside before the Walkers come back."

_Sorry, Emolga_. Natas thought as he followed Ash's friends back inside the Pokémon Center, leaving Emolga's body to burn away.

**. . .**

Among those who took the news hard were the Pikachus. They were convinced that their lives were over, or won't entirely end. Undeath felt worse than death to them, since they can't feel once they turn. They already seen what would happen if a Pikachu turn, all they do was eat the flesh of their own kind. Monsters they were. Ever since Sparky ate one of their own, the Pokémon Center Pikachus felt sore deep within the center of their chests, where their heart should be.

To top it off, food was heavily limited. They were surprised that not all of them were getting fed by Nurse Joy and the survivors, the food they normally get every day was quite frequent. Now it was only once a day, and some Pikachus were going hungry. One such Pikachu had a huge appetite, so when he didn't get the daily rations, he had trouble coping with hunger pains.

The other Pikachus would wish to help out, but every Pikachu was fed in separate groups. That way, they won't share their food with the other Pikachus and ruin the system the humans set up. The Pikachu with the large appetite thought if there were any more food to eat, he hopped on a table and looked out a window. He gazed across the open field of grass and scanned it for anything. His eyes went big when he saw what he was looking for. An apple, an actual fresh apple sitting next to a shoulder bag that someone had abandoned. The Pikachu felt his mouth water, he loved apples. Since they were now worth their weight in gold, why not?

But the Pokémon Center was on lock down, no way in or out. Not to the Pokémon Center Pikachus, they know all the ins and out of the place and every secret passageway built into the building. All this gluttonous Pikachu had to do was access one of those secret passage.

The other Pikachus watch from the windows on the 2nd floor as their comrade came running out of the Pokémon Center. Once he was in clear view, the Pikachu stood on his hind legs and surveyed the area for any Undead. As far as he can tell, Carson was barren of any forms of life. The rest of his buddies watched nervously from safety. Some thought he was crazy, others thought it was suicide. It was too late to talk him out of it, he was already out there and he wasn't coming back in until he got the apple.

The Pikachu, the one sick from the electric flu, was forced out of bed by his buddies to watch this idiotic stunt. He didn't resist, he was too weak. Unlike the other Pikachus, the overcharged Mouse Pokémon wasn't exposed to the chaos happening across the world. He had yet to see an Undead human and Pokémon. So, not knowing what he was getting into, he let his close friends carry him up a flight of stairs to join the rest of the Pikachus to watch one of their own get a hold of some food.

Just as the sick Pikachu got a spot to see the whole thing, the other Pikachus held their breath. The only sound occurring was the sparks from the sick Pikachu's electric glands. They said not a single word as they watch the events unfold before them.

Their friend approached the apple, he stopped in his tracks and looked around occasionally just to make sure he was alone. Taking a leap of faith, the Pikachu charged into the grassy area and rushed up to the apple. Again, he paused and looked around. So far so good, he was still alone. The Pikachu grabbed the apple and examined it for imperfections. No blemishes or bruises at all, it was perfect. The Mouse Pokémon took a bite and chewed the apple in his mouth, he let out a smile as the apple's flavor sunk into his taste buds.

Little did he know, he made a crucial error. He didn't head back inside with the apple, he just stood there and ate the apple as his friends watched in disbelief. Did he even know the danger out there? He wasn't the only being around who wanted to eat something. A couple of minutes went by and he eaten half of the apple, the comfort food was getting to him now.

The Pikachu heard glass shattered nearby, he stopped and looked towards its direction. Time to go back inside. He shoved the rest of the apple into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it all. Without warning a hand burst out of the ground and grabbed the Pikachu by the foot. Before the Pikachu could react, a slimy swamp creature of a ghoul popped out of the ground and bit the Mouse Pokémon in the stomach. The Pikachu screamed at the top of his lungs as the Undead pinned him to the ground and tore open his stomach, spilling his intestines to the ground.

The rest of the Pikachus watched in horror as their friend was being devoured. The sick Pikachu felt his heart started race, his pulse skyrocketed from every second he watched his beloved friend get eaten by the Undead. The zombie next took another bite out of the Pikachu, this time around the neck. That tore out his airway and the Mouse Pokémon began to gush out blood from its mouth.

The Undead pulled his legs out of the hole he created, then got into a position where it could easily feast and started pulling out the Pikachu's organs. It's victim quickly lost consciousness, or died sooner than expected. Regardless, his eyes were locked slightly open, staring up into space as the Undead pulled out half of the Mouse Pokeemon's digestive tract. All the Pikachu wanted to do was get something to eat, the cruelest irony yet was he was the one being eaten by the hungry.

All of his friends watched with tears in their eyes, feeling helpless. They didn't know what to do. They were bred for the heart, not for the brain.

The sick Pikachu was soon having his own complications. After watching his friend die before him, his heart was now racing at the red zone. His breathing grew to pants as he froze, the image of blood and gore burned into his eyes like an illusion from watching too much fireworks. His mouth locked open as he tried to breathe in more air, yet it did no good. With his pulse jammed at the red zone, his pre-existing heart condition soon got the better of him.

Every time a heart beats, millions of millions of heart cells contract all at once in harmony. There was no room for error, a single cell cannot afford to be off timing, even for a millisecond. The sick Pikachu's heart, hammered with fear, the electric flu, and a non-related heart illness, couldn't bear the stress of all three no longer. The sick Pikachu felt a pop in the center of his chest, followed by severe, but brief, pain. He gripped his chest and gulped as his aorta tore itself open. Disrupted by the sudden failure of the artery, other blood vessels of the heart burst as well. The sudden drop of blood pressure caused several heart cells to beat out of sync, his circulatory track began to break down.

All of the other Pikachus watched as their sick friend collapsed on the floor, gripping his chest a while gasping for air. They all surrounded him, still crying from the lost of another friend who died minutes before. They all watched the sick Pikachu took his last breath before going limp.

One Pikachu took matter into his own hands. Couldn't stand to watch another Pikachu buddy die, he rushed up to his fallen comrade and began a vain attempt to revive him with CPR. All the other Pikachus just stood back and watch. They all knew he was gone, the Pikachu trying to save him still had hope. He followed the procedures as Nurse Joy taught him and his friends, 10 chest compressions, then mouth to mouth breaths of air into the lungs, then repeat. As the Pikachus were so focused in either in either watching the horror show, or trying to figure out a way to save their friend, none of them noticed the electric sparks on the overcharged Pikachu's electric glands growing larger in size.

**. . .**

"Are you okay, Iris?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked sorrowfully

Iris sniffed before blowing her nose into some tissue paper, Axew also did the same, "I don't know," said Iris, "Either I'm sad because Emolga died, or died the 2nd time. Smart for what Tesla did, but why does he have to do it so brutality?"

"Axew?" Axew added as he blew his nose again.

Iris gathered up all the used tissues and tossed them into the nearby trash bin, "Thanks for saving Axew back there, I don't know what to think if Axew's gone as well. Wally's right, everybody we know are being taken away. But they're being replaced by something more sinister."

"I've been through that experience before," said Ash, "But I was the one who was taken away, an evil deity pulled my brain out and stuffed its spirit in. Thankfully my friends saved me. But what happened to Dawn, Sparky, and Emolga, whatever evil force caused this made sure there wouldn't be any cure."

"You sure?"

"Their hearts don't beat, their skins all rotten. Everything is just shut down except the nervous system and some sensory organs," Ash paused for a second, "Why am I talking like a doctor?"

"Cause you've learned a lot about the insides of people and Pokémon in a week than in anyone's lifetime," said Mark as he strolled up, his Emolga sat perched on his shoulder as she looked on, "Are you guys still sane?"

"So far so good," said Ash, "How's your Emolga, Mark?"

"I managed to calm her down, but she's still sad from what happened."

Mark's Emolga nodded sheepishly, "Emo." she muttered under her breath.

"I took a look at the magnum that killed the normal sprite Emolga, it had Hollow-Points."

"Hollow-Points?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" added Pikachu.

"Bullets with a hollowed out tip, they tumble when you fire them. When they hit you, they break up and tear out your flesh and bone. That explained the horrible exit wound on her back."

"Don't remind me," winced Iris, "Please!"

"Might as well change the conversation," Mark bluntly say, "Is there any other problems to worry about, besides the Undead?"

"Nurse Joy said that some of the survivors need medicine to treat illnesses," said Ash, "There's a man with a case of Type 2 diabetes and a child with a severe case of asthma."

"How much medicine does the Pokémon Center have?"

"Enough to last for months, we'll need to consult with Wally because he might not let anymore survivors into the Pokémon Center. If we get anymore people who has medical needs, then that number will go down."

"If that happens, then we'll need to set up outposts around Carson. Miniature safehouses that may help give us a better awareness of the city."

"But we'll need walkie talkies and radios, we don't have enough to make an outpost."

Mark looked off to the side and sighed, "Tesla's a master at reconnaissance, if we're going to build outposts and search for supplies we'll need to talk to him. But I'm not sure if he's in the mood right now, something's clearly bugging the elder Pikachu."

"Judging by the effort he put into putting down my Emolga," said Iris, "He's probably troubled by something personal."

"He has a family back at Unova," said Ash, "A lot of family, how can you blame him?"

"I'm not sure if it's just that, Ash," said Mark, "His relatives can handle themselves. I think its something else, more troubling to him than anything else."

"Like what?"

"During his glory days, he had a lot of friends. Now, most of those friends are now dead from old age, and the dead are popping out of their graves right this minute. See where I'm going?"

Ash stirred that thought around in his mind for a brief second, "Yeah."

"He had mentioned this already. But how serious, we don't know. Might as well talk to him about it _only _when the time is right."

The group heard the Pokémon Center Pikachus on the floor above them, panicking and screaming as loud as they can, "And right now it isn't the best time," Mark further added to compliment the muffled screams, "What is going on up there?"

Wally came running into the room with his gun drawn, "Ash," he said, "You better come see this!"

"What's going on, Wally?"

"I don't know, but it's serious enough that you should see it."

Ash and Mark followed Wally as Iris stayed behind, as they head up to the 2nd floor Brock and Cilan followed behind. When they reached the top of the stairs, they can see Tesla at the far end of the hall on his hind legs. He was rushing over from another flight of stairs towards the chaos between them, the old Pikachu held up a small pistol and kept it pointed towards the ceiling as he stopped near the edge of the adjacent room. Just as the Pokémon Center Pikachus came into view, Ash saw a flash of light. He stepped back, slightly disoriented from the blast of light. A strong odor filled his nose, it wasn't the smell of rotting corpses or someone's gas but it smelled like the burn of ozone. He smelled the odor before, from his Pikachu when he gave out his electric attacks and other electric-type Pokémon from theirs, but never this strong before.

He saw one of the Pikachus, lying on the floor as another Pikachu was trying to get him up. The down Pikachu's body was suddenly engulfed in sparks, by the time Ash snapped out of his delirium the electrified Pikachu sat up and bit the one trying to help him. That Pikachu screamed, the rest of the Pikachus grabbed their friend and pulled him away from the sparking Pikachu.

_I can't believe this_. Ash thought as he watched in horror.

It slowly got up, twitching its head and body quite frequently, the buzzing sound and light from the massive sparks shoot out an estimate of 20 centimeters. The Pikachu chuttered and growled like it _was_ being electrocuted, it sounded so monstrous that there was no way it could ever come from any Pokémon. The Pikachu stood up on its hind legs turned around and faced him, its eyes were glowing bright red with its jaw slightly dropped. It twitched heavily as it let out a growl, Wally held up and aimed his gun but didn't fire. He probably wasn't sure if shooting him was a good idea. Tesla stood there with his eyes wide open, just like the other Pikachus who were driven to the far corner of the adjacent room.

"Ash," said Tesla calmly, "Do you have that modified Pokédex on your person?"

"Yes." said Ash.

"Use it now."

Ash hesitantly fished out the modified Pokédex and held its sensor at the Undead Pikachu, then pressed the scan button:

"_Electro," _the Pokédex spoke in its usual electronic voice, _"The mutant electric-type Undead Pokémon. Electros are created from electric-type Pokémon who died a while suffering from the Electric Flu. They electrocute their victims with lethal amounts of electricity upon contact to prevent them from escaping, as they feast on their flesh alive. Caution should be taken when euthanizing an Electro, as they explode in a shower of sparks and gore after death in less than 5 seconds."_

"My instincts proved correct." said Wally as he lowered his gun.

The Electro was looking at him with interest as it groaned in a passive tone, Ash's Pikachu shivered and selfishly got behind his trainer's back as he held onto his clothes with sheer strength. Nurse Joy came running down the hall and stopped when she got to Tesla, she saw the horror before her and tried to scream. Her voice got caught and nothing but air came from her mouth. She stepped back and joined a growing crowd as they gathered at the end of the hall.

Before Ash could figure out what to do, Tesla let out a loud whistle. The Electro shift its attention from him and turned towards the old Pikachu, it quickly took interest and started limping towards him, shifting and twitching as it took its time to get to him.

Tesla held up his pistol and double-tapped the trigger, two rounds struck the Electro in the stomach and it collapsed to the floor. But it wasn't dead, it slowly got back up to its feet, unfazed by the inflicted harm. That was all the proof Ash needed to confirm this Pikachu was indeed Undead.

"Everybody hit the deck!" Tesla warned.

Just as all the people and Pokémon dove to the floor, Tesla fired a round into the Electro's skull. Its head shot back before falling flat on its back, instantly the huge sparks surrounding him engulfed his body to form a bright electro ball. Ash felt his Pikachu drop from his back, he spun around, scooped him up, and dove to the floor – Using his own body to shield his Pikachu. A loud buzz, followed by a bright flash of light and blast of air rocketed throughout the 2nd floor. Dust was kicked up all over the place and obstructed everybody's vision. The explosion was over in seconds.

Ash coughed as he held himself up with his arms, he opened his eyes and saw his Pikachu was startled, but alright. The Mouse Pokémon looked at him with fear in his eyes before giving his trainer a big hug. Ash picked up Pikachu and got back to his feet, he helped up Wally from the floor and then Brock and Cilan.

"Thanks." said Brock as he brushed the dust off his clothes.

Ash looked around and saw Mark was gone, but he soon came back. He sheepishly came back up the stairs, clutching his panicked Emolga in his arms as he stepped back on the 2nd floor, "I thought everybody's a goner there," said Mark, "Sorry."

"Not your fault, Mark." said Ash.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I think so." said a faint voice from the other side of the hall.

When the dust cleared, Ash saw what was left of the Electro. It was a pile of red meat, mutilated organs were strewn out as blood was splattered on the floor, walls, and ceiling, along with chunks of flesh and yellow fur. Unusual gray burn marks covered the entire room and floor, indicating the areas where the electricity dispersed. The corpse smelled cooked, not burned, which made Ash feel sick in his stomach, even though it was the best smell of meat he ever sensed . . . Eww.

Tesla just stood there with a smirk on his face, he clearly enjoyed the explosion unlike the other Pikachus whose eyes were wide with terror. Amazingly, no one got blood on them, but they would be washed for dear safety regardless, "That was both amazing and horrifying at the same time," smiled Tesla, he flipped the pistol's safety back on and pointed it up at the ceiling, "Did you see that, Mark?"

"I did," Mark lied, "I nearly got blinded as a result."

"Emolga." said Emolga as she rubbed her eyes, faking she was stunned by the explosion.

Besides the burned marks, the room was surprisingly intact. Though it was still a horror show and the cleanup may take hours. Right now, the priorities was making sure the other Pikachus were alright. Tesla approached them as the other survivors stepped forward to survey the gore, they either amazed or horrified, backing up the old Pikachu's statement.

"Alright," said Tesla, "Did anyone of you got bitten?"

The Pokémon Center Pikachus, still stunned from the death, reanimation, and death of their close friend, hesitated to respond. They all stood there and shivered in fear as they stared at Tesla, who didn't like to be kept waiting on an answer. A full minute went by before one Pikachu stepped forward, its eyes full of tears, as it showed the bite on its arm. It was huge, accurately showing the teeth marks of the Pikachu mouth. It bled badly, dripping blood onto the floor as the Pikachu gripped its arm to properly show the bite. Nurse Joy started forward but Professor Oak placed his hand on her shoulder, she walked back without saying another word.

"Pikachu," sobbed the bitten Pikachu softly, "Pika."

"Damn." Tesla muttered under his breath.

"Emolga." Mark's Emolga whispered in grief.

Tesla sighed as he placed his hand on the Pikachu's shoulder, "I promise you won't feel a thing." he said, he translated it to the Pokémon language before squeezing the Pikachu's shoulder.

The Pikachu went limp and slumped forward, but Tesla caught him in time, "I'll take care of him myself, guys," he said as he hoisted the Pikachu up on his shoulder, "I'll take him to the roof and do it there, I suggest no one follow me to the roof."

No one said a word as Tesla heads towards the stairs, Ash and his friends stepped aside and let them through. They all watched as Tesla carried the unconscious Pikachu up the stairs, leaving a blood trail from its bite.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	17. Ch 17: Back In The Game

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XVII_

_Back In The Game_

Ash was the only one who didn't flinch when everyone heard the gunshot, he held onto his Pikachu who was starting to become intoxicated with panic. Minutes later he saw Tesla came down, he had the bitten Pikachu wrapped up in a white blanket to prevent anyone from seeing. He just looked at Ash and shook his head before he followed Wally outside, they'll handle the disposal for this latest body.

When they came back moments later, Tesla went off to do his own thing as Wally just sat in a folding chair to look off at space. Delia came walking up to Ash and sat down on the couch next to him, "Was it that bad?" she asked.

Ash nodded his head, then scratched back of Pikachu's head. The Mouse Pokémon closed his eyes and relaxed, but didn't coo.

"I'm sorry, Ash." said Delia as she placed an arm around her son's shoulders.

"I'm not the one you should feel sorry to," said Ash, "Well, not yet anyway."

"Well Ash, I don't know what to say. You came so close to accomplishing your dream, but now it vanished in front of you. I'm worried that you might-"

"Crack?" Ash finished, "I didn't lose everything, I still have most of my Unova team Pokémon with me. They may be the only Pokémon I have left in this world. My journey isn't yet over, it just made an ironic twist. I got a new Pokédex for this Undead apocalypse, and other useful tools. I'm not sure if you would call them useful tools."

Professor Oak came into the room, he had an uneasy expression on his face, "Tesla's unorthodox," he said, "Always had been. I'd watched him in battle when I was young on TV, back then I was quite fascinated at his abilities. Now, with a clearer view on his history, I just don't know what to think of him."

"So do I." said Delia.

"He took down Emolga and killed his own kind without hesitation. He's a murderer, a killer, that's a fact. It's quite ironic that he's even on our side at all, he could be working for Team Rocket or some other criminal organization."

"He lost his family when he was young," said Ash, "It scarred him badly, Professor. How can you blame him for that?"

Professor Oak sighed, "You're right, there's no way to blame him for that. His heart had seen better days, but at least his common sense is still intact."

Brock, Cilan, Iris, and Misty came into the lobby. They all took a seat at the empty couches and chairs and tried to relax, even though it was impossible at the moment, "What are you guys talking about?" Brock asked.

"Tesla." said Professor Oak as he took a seat.

"People are still talking about him," said Cilan, "Why?"

"His reputation precedes him," said Misty, "Always precedes him."

"Even after the world ended," said Iris sarcastically, sounding like she was finally accepting the situation, "Wow."

"He's quite a shot," said Ash, "An expert on firearms and survival, he's the only one here with the most experience on life."

"How so?" Brock asked.

"If you wanna know," said a voice, "All you have to do is ask."

Everyone turned and saw Tesla show up out of nowhere, he was wearing a small backpack on his back equipped with a pistol and a . . . ice ax? The old Pikachu adjusted his eye goggles and stepped forward on his hind legs, "I've lived a long life guys," he explained, "And it ain't pretty."

"How bad is it?" Brock asked.

"I've seen a lot of things," Tesla began, "I've seen the good of the world, and I also seen the worst. I've seen an entire town get wiped out by a disease, in a weekend. I've seen people break into the street to loot and destroy in major cities. I've seen trainers beat their Pokémon until their wounds stop bleeding. I've seen Pokémon locked in cages, pissed on, and subjected to the cruelest experiments humanly imaginable . . . I've seen poachers capture Pokémon and butcher them for their body parts, then sell them to the black market. I've seen Pokémon escape from slavery from their cruel trainers, only to be returned to a bondage much worse than before. Those who continue to resist were killed, and chucked out into a ditch where their bodies rot."

Tesla pulled out the ice ax and held it up for all to see, it was small yet durable, fitting comfortably in his hand. He held it up and used it to make his next point, "I was one of those Pokémon who saw such horror. Most of it was caused by Team Rocket, who kidnaps such Pokémon for their own purposes. Me and my family was taken away and sold off for profit. I was lucky for Irvin to come by and take me under his wing, little did I know that I wound up working with the criminal organization decades later. I've got a better view at what they were, its much worse than you could ever imagine. Every week, there's a massacre on – _undesirable_ Pokémon, because they were too strong to be handled. The weak were sold off to trainers, whom were the most ungrateful members of humankind.

"I've played the bad guy, Irvin brought me along into these Team Rocket activities to capture Pokémon. I was a pro in catching Pokémon and locking them up in cages, some of which couldn't handle my powerful Thunderbolts if things go awry. But I do not let my emotions get in my way when I have blood on my hands, I have no regrets, since this was how I viewed the world for half my life. It was survival of the fittest.

"Good gosh." said Professor Oak.

"I thought I'd seen the worst of the world, I've even saw the pure evil of it all," Tesla shook his head and shrugged, "But nothing, in my hundred years of life, had I ever seen anything quite like this. The Undead nightmare upon us doesn't even come close to my experiences. Once I saw the good and evil of the world became flesh-eating monsters, I asked myself, 'What had we _all_ become?'"

Tesla turned towards Ash and slightly smiled, then looked back on to the rest of the group, "Not to far from here, I met Ash and his Pikachu for the first time. It was no friendly greeting. I gave them such a shock, electrocuted Pikachu, Emolga, even killed Mark's Magnemite on the spot. I thought they were just another group of trainers trying to claim the bounty on me. At the time, I was hunted by the law, under a threat that my life would come to a brutal end.

"After I sent their Pokémon to the Pokémon Center, I thought they wouldn't come back . . . But they did, this time with more friends and Pokémon. Henry's Raichu, Mark's Emolga, Ash's Pikachu, chased me throughout my little Valhalla of a forest. Raichu blundered into a trap and was captured, Pikachu here was too pumped with adrenaline to notice the electric fence I had put up. He rammed into it and got electricity in a bad place, it stopping his heart.

Tesla let it sink in for a moment, "When I saw the grief in Ash's eyes, I knew he was telling the truth in trying to get to reason with me. Many trainers before him said the same thing, but those were lies. I had never heard a truth until he told one to me.

"I was still willing to play the game though, cause I was in no position to call it quits. I was shot in the arm by Mark with his peashooter, so I kidnapped Pikachu and later collected Raichu and locked them in a cage. When the sun went down that day, I kidnapped Mark's Emolga from the Kissinger Household as Mark's Dad – Thinking I was sleeping in my little forest – Supervised a police raid on it. They stepped into one of my traps and got a face full of fire, and when he heard about me kidnapping Emolga that was the last straw.

"After I managed to collect Ash's Snivy, I went out to search for food. I ended up encountering Mark's Dad and he shot me in the leg, I barely escaped the police but I was bleeding badly. I thought I was going to die, and I _really _thought my death certificate was signed when Ash and Mark seemingly showed up out of nowhere. Mark, enraged that I got Emolga stashed away somewhere, tried to use intimidation to reveal the location out of me. He had me in a choke hold, pressing me against the brick wall. That was the only time I ever pleaded with my life.

Tesla looked at Ash again, "Even though I took Ash's Pikachu and his Snivy, I intended no harm. He understood that, he wanted to help me in the beginning ever since he set foot in Faraday Island for the first time. He came to my defense and sucker-punched Mark in the face.

"What?" Delia asked in surprise.

"You heard him," said Mark as he came walking into the room, his Emolga sitting on his shoulder as usual, "I wound up feeling guilt after that."

Tesla laughed, "You and your Emolga are dumber than a bag of hammers, mostly Emolga."

The Shiny Sprite Emolga sat there, unfazed by Tesla's insult. Mark chuckled and added, "Me and Ash took him back to my grandfather's house where we treated him for his wounds, then we told him about Irvin's will and what he left behind. Ironically, my Dad helped us get Tesla his patron. He too felt guilty from shooting him."

"And he was quite a cowboy," said Tesla, "Even when he was a kid."

"Wait a minute," said Professor Oak, "I don't understand, why did you went through that after you discovered Ash was trying to help you."

"I like to add drama into the mix, even if it means putting myself into harm's way. People are going to talk about this, so its best to set everything up to make it worth telling.

"Make's a lot more sense," said Mark, "Though you still did more than you needed to do."

"True. If it wasn't for Ash's persistence, I would be dead a long time ago. Which is why I owe him my life."

"You could have come along with me in my journey," said Ash, "Instead of showing up once in a while."

"Pikachu." added Pikachu.

"And bring you unnecessary attention and bizarre consequences to your Pokémon and friends," noted Tesla, "I'm too strong and smart for any trainer to handle, even if they're close friends. There's a lot of reasons why I never fully joined your team, Ash. A lot of those are personal reasons, and others are quite obvious. But this is the most biggest reason.

Tesla pointed a finger at him, "You and your friends value life," then he stuck his thumb at the center of his chest, "I don't . . . That is the greatest difference between us. I don't want to join your group full-time because I don't want to bring a dark cloud over you, I'm too corrupt. You've seen what happens every time we-"

"We know, Tesla," said Ash, "But you still follow me and my friends around, there's a reason why you don't value life and we all know what it is. You told me, in person, that your empathy was robbed from you and I told you I might help you get it back. I gave you hope to fix your broken heart."

Tesla's jaw dropped and went silent for a moment, "I don't believe it, you sound just like Irvin during the worst of times . . . Tell you what, I best head outside and see what I can dig up. Daylight is burning and things must be done.

"Then if you're planning to go back out there," Ash got back to his feet, "Then I'm coming along too."

"Ash," said Delia, "Don't."

"Judging by the fact that the Undead can get in here by one of us dying," said Tesla, "It should be safer to get out there. We've already seen fine examples of that, we don't need anymore."

"Besides, you shouldn't go back out there alone. What if you get hurt, or get trapped like last time?"

"I appreciate the help, Ash, I really do. But there's something you need to know about friendships during these times."

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu added.

"If you help someone, you'll improve your relationship with that person or Pokémon. But in doing so, you may unintentionally worsen one or more relationships to a degree. For example, you helping me will increase your relationship with me. However, you worsen the relationship between your own mother, Professor Oak, and your Pikachu, since they either worried sick about your safety or have trouble seeing eye to eye with me due to my past. If you keep up a certain trend, those people or Pokémon, even if they love you for many years with all their hearts, may turn against you. You'll be surprised who would stab you in the back when you least expect it.

"But they-"

"Even if you know them for years or _decades_. I know this by experience, Ash. I had been friends with Irvin's Tepig for 50 years, after our trainer died he became my enemy regardless on the number of times we saved each others' lives. Ash, you are _not _the same person as you were once before. You have changed, and so are everyone you know. Keep that in mind when you're trying to decide what is best for your group."

Ash looked around the room and saw the looks on their faces, he couldn't believe what he heard, nor did they. Tesla's right, he had changed. He shot and killed Undead before anyone knew what was really going on, he shot Iris' Emolga after she turned without hesitation, he even looted a corpse and Pikachu witnessed the act. This world was new and foreign. Familiar, yet foreign. He best learn fast, or there would be no chance to thrive at all.

"Ash Ketchum," said Mark as he stepped forward, "Tesla's right, we've all changed. I didn't know right away if it was really you who was taking potshots at the Undead, you saved me and my friends back there. Regardless on what everyone things, I'll stand by your side till the bitter end."

"Emolga!" Emolga cheered as she punched her fist into the air.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu looked up at Ash with a smile on his face.

"We'll stand with you, Ash." said Brock.

"I'm not going to let a zombie outbreak get in the way with our friendship." said Misty.

"You may be one of the few we have left in the world," said Cilan, "I'm in."

"I'm with you, Ash," said Iris, "We need all the help we can get."

"Axew!" cheered Axew.

"Tesla's right," said Professor Oak, "He's right on every word he said, but I'll understand. I thought you weren't ready to become a Pokémon Trainer, but I can tell you're ready to be a leader."

"I brought you to the world, Ash," said Delia, "I'll never take you out of it, even if I were to turn."

"Snivy!"

"Pignite!"

"Scraggy!"

"Oshawott!"

Ash turned around and saw his Unova Pokémon standing before him, presenting unquestionable loyalty and love. Tesla saw this and smiled, "Looks like you got a family here," he said, "Looks like you have the advantage, Ash. But still, help everyone you can, but only if you can. Do not do things outside your range of abilities."

"Do we have something to do?" Ash asked.

"We do," said Tesla, "Get suited up and meet back with me when you're ready, just don't take too long or I'll leave without you."

**. . .**

Luke listened on the conversation from a separate room, when he heard enough he head down the hall and walked back upstairs. Sure enough, Tesla was a member of Team Rocket, and his loyalty to the boy is unquestionable. Natas was right after all, Tesla was not to be trusted. But there were other things to consider.

He head back upstairs and up onto the roof of the Pokémon Center, he relieved the watch on duty up there and took his place. Once alone, Natas began to think of another plan. He can watch Ash from up on the roof of the Pokémon Center, but only for a limited distance. Whatever he does out there, Natas wanted to know. The boss demands such information. He wonder what kind of good it would do for him.

Staring off into the horizon, Natas saw a few individual Undead walking around. Some at a blank stare on their rotten faces, others seemed to be focused on something but weren't too sure about it. The rest just wondered around, one of which walked back and forth for some unknown reason. There were a few Undead Pokémon, they behaved like they came from the wild. Natas doubt it, since most Pokémon found in urban areas are either feral or in human captivity. They still behaved in some ways like their former selves, but they snarl and growl. The red eyes complete their grotesque being, a bit more terrifying than the Undead humans.

Natas pulled out his binoculars and got a better view of them, he calculated the possible range in his head and put the binoculars down, "Not sure if I can hit them that far," said Natas, "Maybe if they get closer or something."

_What am I going to do with you, Ash? _Luke thought.

He tried to think of another test he can pull on Ash, hopefully without any collateral damage this time. The Electro earlier did provided a big scare, not his doing but it pretty much provided good data. He saw the look on Ash's face when he saw the mutant Undead Pikachu, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to put it down or not. Another reminder on what happened to that Sparky, and that victim he devoured. Ash's Pikachu was particularly sensitive on that one, did he know Sparky personally? Maybe that was what gotten to him, but he didn't seem to resistive to fear when he saw the Electro.

After piecing it all together, Luke saw the seeds of a potential storm had been planted and was growing rapidly. In the next few days or weeks, everyone might see the final result. Maybe not. Pikachu's quite strong so he would fully adapt by then. But who knows, anything can happen at any moment.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	18. Ch 18: Crooks and Crannies

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XVIII_

_Crooks and Crannies_

Ash knew he needed a new attire, his Unova clothes were bloodstained and tattered from just a few days of abuse during the Undead armageddon. The boots he "foraged" from the last time he went scavenging were suited well to this new world, but he'll need more appropriate clothes. Somewhere close to Mark's outfit, but not too authoritative. Hopefully he wouldn't have to salvage clothes from the Undead, especially underwear, Ash shivered from the thought of that one.

He put on his backpack and grabbed his crowbar, stuffing it inside the backpack over the shoulder. He checked his 9mm pistol, it was loaded. Ash checked his flashlight, the batteries were almost dead. He opened it up and dumped out the batteries into a nearby trash can and tossed it on the bed. Might as well invest in rechargeable batteries since there won't be any more disposables.

Pikachu looked at him with uncertainty, and Ash returned the look. The trainer was concerned for his Pokémon's well-being, and his Pokémon must be thinking of a similar thing. Ash sighed and he picked up Pikachu, "You want to come along, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

"Very well."

Pikachu climbed back on Ash's shoulder and they head back to the main entrance, where they found Mark ready to go as well. He held in each hand a pump-action shotgun and a varmint rifle, his Emolga sat comfortably on his shoulder as she stared off into space, "Hey, Ash," said Mark, "I'm coming with you. I know Faraday Island like the back of my hand and I'm a trained expert on firearms, I have a better nerve in killing zombies anyway."

"That you do." said Ash sarcastically.

"You're also going to need a bigger gun," said Mark, "We have two available weapons, a shotgun and a rifle. My .22 caliber varmint rifle can hit targets up to long ranges, but aren't very reliable in tight spaces. The .12 gauge shotgun can shred a small group of Undead up to close range, but would have trouble killing anything around longer ranges, unless the gun is loaded with slug rounds."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Slug rounds?"

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked as well.

"Slug rounds concentrate the power and kick of a shotgun blast to a single point," said Mark, "It behaves like a rifle bullet, but the energy is jacked up to the max."

Ash barely understood that last part, he pretend he got the point by nodding his head as Pikachu just continue to give him a confused stare.

"Do you want the shotgun or the rifle?" Mark asked finally.

"Since you can shoot me at a long range with that rifle," said Tesla as he strolled up, "You should give Ash the shotgun, he handled it well with it last time."

"You have the shells?" Ash asked.

"Yes." said Mark.

"Okay, let me have it."

Mark tossed the shotgun to Ash and checked its safety, then he received a couple of boxes of shells from the previous holder. "Hopefully we don't have to use it," said Ash, "Ammunition worth its weight in gold."

"Faraday Island is loaded with firearms," said Mark, "So there should be ammo lying around in the crooks of crannies of the many buildings around here."

"How much shells does this gun hold?"

"The last time I checked, eight. Don't worry, it's already loaded with the safety turned on."

Ash then turned to Tesla, who placed his ice ax in its holder attached to his backpack, "Where did you get the ice ax?" Ash asked.

"I found it in the basement," said Tesla, "There's a lot of junk lying around, it's an eccentric's paradise down there."

"If we get enough supplies," said Mark, "I may be able to craft new ammo from spent shell casings, or even make modified shotgun shells such as coin-shot out of pre-apocalypse money."

"So much for my bank account." said Tesla jokingly.

"Okay," said Ash, "What do we need first of all?"

"Food and water," explained Tesla, "Mostly water. That should be our primary concern. We can go weeks or a month without food but barely 3 to 7 days without water. I don't think that the nearby river system will provide fresh drinking water since the water supply may be contaminated."

"Bottled water will be our best bet in the short-term," said Mark, "Right now, we need to get a feel of our environment. If there's time, we can scavenge for supplies on the way back."

Wally walked up with a look on his face, "Are you sure its a good idea to bring your Pokémon with you?" he asked.

"They have a heightened sense of awareness," said Tesla, "Pikachus for example have a larger range of hearing, much better than any Herdier or Growlie."

Pikachu nodded in agreement, "Pikachu."

"If anyone of you get's bit," said Wally, "I'm not letting you back in, you got that?"

"Might as well have the courtesy to let us in so you can shoot us." said Mark with a smirk on his face.

"And leave a mess to clean up?" Tesla added, "I don't think so."

Tesla, Mark, and Emolga all laughed as Ash and Pikachu looked on, _At least they still have their sense of humor_. Ash thought, though he didn't thought that was really funny at all.

"Here," said Wally as he handed Ash a walkie-talkie, "Take this with you, so you can communicate back to us."

"Got it." said Ash as he clipped the walkie-talkie to his belt.

"Be careful out there you guys," said Professor Oak, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Get out, look around, come back." said Mark, "That's all there is to it."

Wally pressed the button and the main entrance opened up its shutters, Ash, Mark, and Tesla opened the front doors and stepped back out into the world as their friends looked on through the safety of the windows. After walking 5 meters from the Pokémon Center, Ash heard Wally slammed the shutters shut.

He glanced around and saw the street was paved with blood, holes and tire tracks were raked across the grass rectangle from yesterday's incident. Another reminder on how bold he and his friends were getting.

_Let's get this over with_. Ash thought.

**. . .**

The group walked across Carson to get a layout of the town. It looked worse than before, for what Ash can tell. Without power, the whole place was dead. It was like a ghost town in the desert, but this ghost town was more scary – and urbanized. There were few Undead wondering around. Mark had his suppressor back on his rifle, but refrain from using it. He did not wanna use it unless they absolutely need it.

Ash noted his shadow and saw how large it was. Sunset was approaching, they best be back soon. He looked over his map and marked down the potential hotspots for supplies, maybe tomorrow they would search for some. Maybe.

"So how did you handle it, Tesla?" Ash asked as they walked down the barren street of abandoned cars . . . and large bloodstains.

"Handle what?" Tesla asked.

"We took care of that sick Pikachu, and you put him down without hesitation after he turned."

"Seeing Pikachus die is all part of being in a wild Pikachu society," Tesla simply said, "Your Pikachu may not agree, but that was how me and my family were raised. I was there when my grandmother past away peacefully, my cousin exploded from Overcharge, and my uncle taking in too much electricity through the mouth. I saw all those deaths when I was just a young Pichu, I took it all in stride and moved on, until that fateful day. Watching loved ones die is one thing, having them taken away by someone is another. Death is quick, but suffering can last a lifetime.

Tesla looked up at Ash, "I know this may sound absurd, but I have to ask. Have you ever eaten a cooked Pokémon who recently – _and_ I mean recently – died?"

"No," said Ash, "I had to admit, I thought about it though."

"I had, it was my own uncle."

"Damn," said Mark, "Why?"

"Pikachu!?" Pikachu asked in disbelief, yet kept his voice at a moderate level to avoid attracting attention.

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Cannibalism_,he thought, _You serious!?_

"Me and my family were messing with a transformer yard when I was young," said Tesla, "We stayed mostly to the ground, but my uncle wanted to get a good bite out of the high voltage at the wires. So he climbed up one of the towers to get to the wires, chewed through the thick insulation, then got a face full of power. He was dead before he fell 4 meters on solid concrete.

"We all gathered around and saw his body, he was cooked, literally cooked. Me and my siblings . . . We were Pichus at the time, we all carried him back home. Me and my siblings never said anything when my dad pulled off his brother's hide, it was quite easy since the fat was melted by the electricity. Most of my siblings weren't hungry, but me and a brother and sister was. We all dug in as my mom tried to get the others to eat our uncle. I managed to get his entire thigh, I can tell you without shame that my own kind was the best meat I had ever tasted in my entire life.

Pikachu let out an audible gulp, Emolga snickered from hearing that but said nothing, "Why are you telling us this?" Mark asked.

"Seeing Sparky disembowel and eat that Pikachu, and the Electro taking a bite out of another who was trying to help him . . . I knew what it would taste like. Even though the flavor would be different, since it's raw. It felt weird when I saw it, it replaced the horror and shock I would experience. It left me craving for _it_, it was just messed up."

"Would you eat Pikachu if he had died from being electrocuted by your fence?" Ash asked.

Tesla stopped, causing the group to stop as well. He gave Ash a look and sighed, "Honestly, yeah. I would pull his hide off, strip his flesh and organs from the bone, burn his digestive tract, and cook his limbs as I preserve the rest of his meat. I would feel guilty about it, but that would all be respect. I would eat his heart first, cause that's an honorable thing to do. In survival terms."

"How do you live like this," Mark asked, "Why do you live like this?"

"My trainer taught me the mental mindset, I still feel his will imposed on me even two decades after his death."

"Pika Pika Pikachu Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"Pikachu." Tesla replied in the Pokémon language.

"P..."

"What did he asked you?" Mark asked.

"He asked if I'll ever stop talking about my never-ending glory," said Tesla, "I told him until I'm dead."

The group ceased conversation and listened, something stirred over from around the corner. They tiptoed up to peak around the corner of a building. Everyone but Tesla gasped when they saw a small group of Undead Pikachus eating a couple of dead Pikachus at least 15 meters away. The Undead Pikachus were horribly deteriorated, some of them had their face sheered off, revealing a more skeletal look. Others had their arms chewed up, some were missing their hands and feet. Others appeared disemboweled, a couple of Undead Pikachus had a barren abdominal cavity. A freak show wouldn't even scale to this slaughter.

Ash Pikachu wheezed from panick, then gulped it away. Tesla just stood there, not showing much emotion, as he watched what was once his own kind eat the remains, "All they do is eat, and whatever's left becomes Undead. They appear to be finishing up on their meal, soon they'll be looking for the next one," Tesla grunt, "Well, they don't have to look very far."

"What should we do?" Mark whispered.

"Emolga?" Mark's Emolga added.

"The Pikachu's ear is highly sensitive, they'll detect a pin dropping around where we at, even if there's moderate noise pollution. We can't sneak our way around them, nor can we outrun them. The varmints are just too fast and too attentive."

"So what do we do?" Mark asked.

Ash thought of an idea, "We'll distract them with something."

"Good idea," whispered Tesla, "But what do you want to-"

Nearby, gunshots sounded. The Undead Pikachus quickly turned towards that direction and snarled, then the entire group ran off on all fours as one. They left their unfinished meals behind as they ran off in lightning speed towards a potential fresher one. When the last of the Undead Pikachus vanished from sight, Mark sighed in relief, "We were lucky there, but I don't think we would be the next time around."

"Agreed," said Tesla, "The Undead are probably attracted to whatever's going over there, so we should take the time to take a closer look at this place. Do you see anything worth investigating around here?"

Ash and Mark stood back up and looked around, "I don't see anything in particular." said Ash.

Mark pointed across the street, "There's a door boarded up, let's check that out."

"I'll find an advantage point keep a lookout for any Undead," said Tesla, "Don't take too long."

"We won't." said Ash.

Mark, Ash, and their Pokémon watched as Tesla rushed up to the building across the street and, with amazing acrobatic skills, jumped on a car, then on a store's sun-setter, before bouncing up where he grabbed the edge of the flat roof. He used all of his strength and pulled himself up, then he vanished from view of the group. After waiting for a few seconds to make sure that Tesla was no longer in ear shot, Mark broke the silence, "I thought he'll never stop talking." he whispered.

"I heard that!" Tesla called out.

Emolga couldn't help but snicker, Pikachu however was in no mood to laugh. The Mouse Pokémon just sat perched on Ash's shoulder, silent.

Ash approached the boarded up doorway Mark pointed out. After looking closely, Ash saw the door itself was ripped from its frame. He peered between the gaps of the wooden boards to see what's inside, it was pitch-black, virtually almost no light was getting in to fight back the shadows. Ash stuffed his shotgun back into his backpack and grabbed his crowbar, he held the crowbar an end of one of the boards.

Just before he could start to pry it open, Mark stepped in and stopped him, "Hold on," he said, "We need to see if there's any Walkers in there."

Ash nodded and stepped back, Mark held up the butt of his rifle and tapped it twice it against the boards. Mark stepped back and waited. Sure enough Ash saw two glowing orbs of light appear out of nowhere, then a rotten face of a lone Undead. It snarled and growled as it clawed against the boards, putting in a bit of effort to get to its next meal.

"Looks like the store owner," said Mark, "I don't think he's interested in telling us the discounts of his goods."

"Can you shoot him in there?" Ash asked.

"I could but the ammo is hard to get, we'll have to smash his head in."

"How are we going to do that if there's no room to wing?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Remove the board that's near his face, then love tap him through the gap."

"Very well."

Ash wedged the crowbar between the board and the door frame, he cringed as he muscled the two apart. The Undead continued to growl and moan at him, unfazed at his fate. He was too focused in Ash, eating people was all he knew. Absolutely no remnants of his former life, he showed signs of looking like a kind man before he turned.

After a minute of prying, he freed one end of the board, knocking a few of its nails to the ground. Ash got to work on the other one, it squeaked and cracked as it resist Ash's force. It soon gave up and broke free from the frame, the board dropped and clattered on the ground.

Now with a better view of the Undead's face, Ash raised the crowbar and checked for a good spot to hit him at. After examining the Undead's skeletal-like head, he found a suitable area. Ash turn the crowbar in his hand so that the claw end is facing away from the Undead, then swung as hard as he can into its temple. A splat of red mist, followed by a crunch, knocked the Undead back and drop to the floor. It gurgled for a few seconds before becoming fully dead.

Ash was surprised he didn't feel much sympathy, or even empathy, from killing him, which brought Tesla's speech back at the Pokémon Center. _You have changed, Ash. _Those words repeated madly inside his head, Ash shook away the mental cobwebs and refocused at his task, "Go for the top and bottom boards first," said Mark, "Pry off the middle one last, if there's any other Undead it wouldn't be smart enough to get past that board. I'll cover you as you work, try not to make too much noise."

Mark turned and looked off down the street, Ash looked at the top board first and raised his crowbar. He wedged the claw between the board and began to pry it. As he worked in prying off the boards, Ash thought about any hope of returning back to normal life. He was becoming close in reaching his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, but now the finish line had exploded on him. Death had risen up and wrapped its noose around life, snuffing it out in any living human and Pokémon. In most cases, Death and Life fused together to create Undeath, resulting in the dead to become Undead.

_Undead_, Ash thought as he pulled the top board off, _Walkers, zombies, monsters, cannibals..._

The Pokémon trainer used a little bit too much force in wedging the crowbar into the gap in the bottom board. He felt Pikachu jumped, the Mouse Pokémon was no doubt sensing his anger. It was no determination or frustration, Ash couldn't lie to himself. It was all anger. First he was mad, now he was angry. Angry at the world, himself, others . . . What others? People? Or those who were once people? How about those who were once Pokémon? In the past couple days, he saw several Pokémon died just two meters in front of him. Two of them committed suicide. One accidental, the other intentional. One understood its fate, the other didn't. They were all missed, yet one of them came back... And tried to take a bite out of Axew.

Ash grunted when he pried off the bottom board, _Flesh-eaters, growlers, munchers..._

Then Tesla decided to yap his yapper, the old Pikachu used _human_ words to communicate to the _human_ survivors of his stories in the past. He lived a full life, had numerous tales to tell, saw many places around the world. He had worked with evil, then stabbed it in the back, but kept its habits. Tesla's a showoff, one he agrees with dismay. Not that it was his fault for becoming famous, his trainer brought him into it. Worked with Team Rocket at some point in their lives, then quit the job, sort of. This island was their home. Behold, Faraday Island, filled with Undead Pikachus along with other forms of Undead. Invited by some unknown person, delivered by some mysterious courier. How lucky Ash and his friends got out of Unova the day before the world ended

The third board dislodged and fell to the ground, _Ghouls, evil spirits, corpses, red eyed crazies..._

They all tried to get to harm his friends. Some succeeded physically, most succeeded psychologically. The Undead are more of a threat to the mind than the body, they defied everything rational. Dead people come back from the graves, people who were dead in 10 minutes comes back, bitten folks took their sweet time to turn. They got Dawn, Piplup, Sparky, and Raichu. Iris' Emolga died and came back, the sick Pikachu died and came back. Theirs owners watched Tesla killed them without remorse.

Such a psychopath. Even if he cares, he often uses violence to solve his problems. Even killing folks who threatened his friends. After all Ash did for him, Tesla can only pay him back in lessons, lectures, and fancy gadgets and tools, such as the Pokédex. Ash didn't ask for them all, only his word if Tesla would be there for him to save his life. Returning the favor, becoming equal. Now there's no debt to be paid.

But he cleverly stated that he's _forever _in Ash's debt. Now that's starting to show after the dead rising up, what's with the sudden kindness?

_Undead. _Ash thought as he pulled the 4th board from the door frame, that just leaves one more.

"You okay, Ash?" Mark asked, "You seem a little tense."

Ash lowered the crowbar and sighed, "Tesla's right."

"Right about what?"

"Emolga?" Emolga asked.

"He's corrupt, he had a bad influence on all of us. That explained why he never stick with me and my friends most of the time."

"Ash, that Pikachu cares about you, as much as your Pikachu cares about you. Tesla wanted what's best for you, and he does not want his personality to affect you. Heck, you defended him when I was about to kill him with my bare hands."

Ash chuckled, "Knocked you flat."

"The way we showed anger at him and each other, that gave him the reason not to stick with you 24/ 7."

"True."

"His most important ability beyond his electricity and skills is the ability to translate for our Pokémon, to understand their inner thoughts. He might exaggerate the translation a little bit, but he's a master at psychology, and we're just kids trying to listen to an elder. He knows how to get the message across well."

"Okay, let's get the last board off so we aren't too exposed."

"Go right ahead, I got your back covered."

Ash raised up the crowbar and wedged it into the final board, he put some force into it and the board broke free from one end. Then he did the same for the other end, finally the board broke free and clattered with the rest. With the way clear, Ash stepped forward and looked inside, holding his crowbar in the defensive position. The extra light from the now clear doorway helped a little, but it was still too dark to see.

Before Ash could set his foot through the door, a bloody skeletal hand reached out and grabbed him. He yelped as another Undead stepped out of the shadows and grappled with him, Pikachu let out a small scream before jumping off of Ash for dear safety, "Sh*t," cursed Mark. He held up his rifle and fired a silent round at the Undead. It struck the ghoul in the collarbone with a small _put,_ it wasn't fazed by the gunshot.

Ash groaned as he tried to push the Undead back. He tried not to look at the walking corpse, it was more of a skeleton than a zombie. The red evil eyes didn't seem deteriorated, Ash looked closely and saw a faint tint of the iris and pupils. That made Ash panic, his heart raced as the Undead pinned him to the ground, "Mark!" cried Ash.

"Get off of him you son of a b*tch!" roared Mark as he grabbed onto the Undead's shoulders.

The extra muscle helped Ash pushed the Undead off of him, Mark kicked it back inside and it fell backwards. Just as it was getting up, Ash quickly shot on his feet and raised his crowbar. He rushed up to the Undead and smashed the crowbar into its eye socket, it let out a ghoulish yelp from the blow. Ash bashed the Undead's head in a few more times before stepping back to pant, staring down at the two bodies of Undead he just killed.

"Oooooh, oh woah," Mark breathed a sigh of relief, "That was a close one there, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." said Ash.

He turned around and saw Pikachu, who stood there on his hind legs trying not to hyperventilate, "Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Pikachu nodded without a word before climbing back on his trainer's shoulder, "Emolga?" Mark's Emolga asked, sounding concerned.

Pikachu gave him the same response as he gave to Ash, "We can't count on luck forever, Ash," said Mark, "Let's see if there's anything in here, then call back Tesla so we can get back to the Pokémon Center."

"Okay," said Ash, "You take one half of the store, I'll take the other."

Mark fished out his flashlight and clicked it on, lighting up the room with a single white beam, "This place is barely touched," said Mark as he grazed the small shelves of supplies with the beam of the flashlight, "Take what you can get, but carry what you can carry."

"See if you can find any water," said Ash, "Tesla's insisting on that."

"I bet you there may be some water in the pipes, containers will be a big help in collecting it. Gosh, I hope there isn't anymore Walkers around here."

"Why you call them Walkers?"

Mark shrugged, "They walk, that's all the do besides eating."

"Well, you're right on that one."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	19. Ch 19: What If It Was Your Pikachu?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter IXX_

_What If It Was Your Pikachu?_

"So what did you find?" Tesla asked as he came back from his recon.

"A lot of stuff." said Mark, hoisting a sack full of supplies over his shoulder as Emolga sat on his head.

"You found water?"

"Enough I can collect and store in bottles."

"Any left?"

"A lot left, but I'm not sure if would remain clean since I have to-"

Tesla held up a hand, "Save it, I understand," the old Pikachu turned to Ash, "What did you find, Ash?"

"Same kind of stuff Mark found," said Ash as he carried a similar sack, "But its tools, Mark has most of the food. Did you find anything a while you're up there?"

"More boarded up buildings," said Tesla, "They looked like they've been put up recently, so we got survivors out there. With the amount of stuff you're carrying, we might not slip by unnoticed."

"Go through the back alleys?" Mark asked

"That's a bit hazardous with all the Undead out there, but I rather deal with zombie claws than bullets."

Tesla let out a small smirk from his own statement. Mark looked away and groaned, but it wasn't because of Tesla's rotten teeth. Their history wasn't quite good when they met. Ash had some doubt that their relationship would ever approve, Mark hadn't quite let go of all the bad things Tesla had done to him, and neither does his father.

"We should head back," said Ash, trying his best to distract Tesla and Mark away from that past reflection, "The sun is coming down."

"Another day comes to a close," said Tesla, "And another day is on its way. The sun will come up, either with or without us."

"I can never agree more." said Mark.

The group walked out and head down the alleyways, or tried their best to stick to them. They had to cross the street at some times but they cleared them right away, Ash kept his guard up with his crowbar in his hand. The claw end of the crowbar was still smeared with black blood, Ash held the crowbar away from Pikachu. His Mouse Pokémon was feeling a bit unstable, and he was shivering slightly. Maybe he needs a coat or...

And that just reminded Ash of something.

"Hey Mark," said Ash, "Is there a store nearby that sells clothes?"

"I do know of a hunting store," said Mark, "It's right up here, why?"

"I think I need to change my clothes, so I can adapt better in this new world."

"Smart move," said Tesla, "Take your time, we are in no rush and neither is the Undead."

"But some of them can really move." said Mark.

"Only if we _encourage _them to move, such as shooting them or getting too close."

"I doubt that statement, but I'll take your word for it."

The group approached the small hunting store in question, the windows were busted in and the displays were cleaned out. Ash approached the windows and tapped the side with his crowbar to attract any potential Undead inside, he was answered with silence. He pushed the broken door open and walked inside, Mark came in with his back towards him as Tesla tried not to step on the broken glass with his bare feet.

Ash surveyed the scene, most of the supplies were cleaned out and gone. Just a few pistol clips and a box of shotgun shells were all that was left. But Mark, once again, found something. He walked behind the cashier counter and reached underneath, "I'll be damned," he said, "Look at this."

Ash saw him pull out a crossbow, a modernized and solidly built one. He also pulled out a holster that contained the bolts for it, "Now this seem – friendlier – somehow, and stealthy too."

"Keeping it simple?" Tesla asked.

"Yup."

"The trees that grow on this island can make perfect shafts for crossbow bolts, so more ammunition can be crafted."

"That just reminds me," said Mark, "I need to get some tools to craft some ammo, damn it!"

"We won't find them here," said Tesla, "But they might have them at the police station, but we'll go there some time later. It's getting dark. Ash, grab what fits you and can hold a lot of stuff in the pockets, then we'll get out of here. Mark, let me help you with some of those supplies. Might as well start carrying my own weight around here."

As Tesla helped Mark with the supplies, Ash walked around and looked at all the clothes they had. There were overalls, reflective clothing, and some hiking boots. He found a vest that had a lot of pockets on it, probably designed for ammunition clips. Ash grabbed a pair and looked around some more. He found some wilderness camouflaged cargo pants, he checked the size and it was his. Ash grabbed a pair as well. He also grabbed a black T-shirt his size, and some ammo holsters.

Finally, he grabbed a hat that was around his head size. It was wilderness camouflaged, Ash didn't like it but it reminded him what was at stake, _What am I becoming?_ He thought to himself.

Ash stuffed all the clothes into his sack and looked for more things. There was a pair of binoculars, he grabbed that and stuffed it into the sack.

"You're done yet, Ash?" Tesla asked.

"Is there a flashlight around here," Ash asked, "And some batteries."

"Here's one." said Mark.

He tossed a packaged flashlight to Ash and he caught it, Ash saw it was a flashlight exactly the same as Mark's, "They're solid," Mark explained, "I wonder where the batteries are."

Ash looked around and found a pack of Energizer D-Cell batteries, sitting in the shelf where the batteries were once sold. He grabbed the pack and stashed them in the sack, "Found them, we're done here for now."

"I'm just about set," said Mark as he struggled to carry the load, he helped Tesla zipped up his now stuffed backpack and readjusted his load, "You're good, Tesla."

"Yeah," said Tesla as he stood on his hind legs, "Daylight's almost out, the sun might just about be down when we get back to the Pokémon Center."

The group walked out of the store and head down the street, not too worried about other survivors watching them this time. The Undead were still strolling, but not as lively as they once were. Ash managed to spot a few of them, but they were far away and weren't too interested in the group. He felt like holding onto his Pikachu the entire way, but he had enough to carry in his arms.

"Hey, Ash," Mark asked, "Where's your Unfezant?"

"I'm not too sure where she is," said Ash, "I let her out of her Poké ball outside the Pokémon Center the day I bumped into Tesla, why you asked?"

"Look up."

Ash looked towards the sky and saw Unfezant flying up above, she glided over the group a while keeping a lookout for any Undead. Unfezant looked down and made eye contact with Ash, then swooped down and landed before the group, "Unfezant." she whispered softly.

"How you're doing?" Ash whispered back, smiling slightly.

"Un." Unfezant nodded.

"Mark's being a bit of a pack rat," said Ash, "You think you can take that sack back to the Pokémon Center for him?"

"Unfezant!" the Proud Pokémon nodded.

Before Mark said a word, Unfezant leaped up, grabbed the sack with her feet, and flew off. Mark and his Emolga watched in awe as Unfezant carried it over towards the Pokémon Center, which was now in sight. The only thing Mark still had was his varmint rifle and the crossbow he found, "Thanks," said Mark, "I didn't thought this through, I got a bit too greedy."

"You and your Emolga always get too greedy." said Tesla.

Mark grinned and gazed off into the distance, "Yeahhh..."

"Emolga." Emolga muttered as she did the same.

Mark held up his rifle and held it to Tesla, "Wanna hang onto my rifle, you're a good shot at it."

"You trust me with your gun?" Tesla asked.

"You used it before. And besides, you don't need bullets to rain sh*t on my ass."

"Fair enough."

Tesla took the rifle and stashed his ice ax back into its holster, then Mark got out his crossbow and load a bolt into it, "You know how to use that?" Ash asked.

"Yup," said Mark, "I used these before when I'm hunting."

"What do you hunt?"

"Bird Pokémon the size of a basketball. Um, don't tell Unfezant."

"I've heard nothing." said Tesla.

When the group approached the Pokémon Center, Ash felt relieved to see the yellow glow of the lights coming through the windows. He saw Unfezant on the roof, looking down at him. As Ash was about ready to call it a day, Pikachu tapped on his cheek, "Pika P." He muttered.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

The Mouse Pokémon pointed towards the side of the Pokémon Center. There was a blood trail beginning at the edge of the street, it led straight to a dumpster and a couple of recycling bins. Ash's eyes went big when he saw a corpse of a Pokémon leaning against the wall, "What is this?" Mark asked.

"Looks like a bloody mess," said Tesla, "But this was already here when we left, how can I miss the dead Pikachu against the dumpster."

"How can you tell it's a Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"I can tell. Ash, set your things aside so we can investigate this."

Ash sat his sack of supplies up against the Pokémon Center's wall and the group approached the corpse. Sure enough it was a dead Pikachu, the lightning bolt tail gave it away. It barely looked like a Pikachu with all the blood covering its fur. The belly was torn out and the organs removed, some of its flesh was ripped off the arms, legs, neck, and part of the face. Whatever Undead devoured this Pikachu, it plucked him from almost every internal organ it had. It was nauseous to look at.

"One of the Pokémon Center Pikachus," said Tesla, "I don't think the Pikachu died when the Undead finished eating him, I bet his last moments of life were filled with terrible pain . . . Or no pain at all."

"Tesla!" Ash scold.

"No way this Pikachu was propped up like this, Ash," Tesla raised his voice, "He had _lived _for a short while before succumbing to blood lost."

The dead Pikachu stirred, a second later it opened its eyes. They were bright red, it had came back. The group jumped back as it looked up at them, the joints of its bones cracked loudly as they shift, "Holy damn!" Mark cried as he held up his crossbow.

He fired a bolt straight into the center of the Undead Pikachu's abdomen, the bolt went straight through the center and embed itself into the dumpster. It wasn't fazed, nor was it in pain. The Undead Pikachu let out a soft moan as it leaned forward towards the group with arms outstretched, the move caused it's back to break and it split in half. The upper body flopped on the pavement as the lower body remained in place, anything that was once red was greenish-black. Ash felt the urge to vomit, but kept his focus on protecting his own Pikachu.

The Undead Pikachu tried to crawl its way towards the group, reaching for them as it gurgled and groan. Mark load another bolt into the crossbow and aimed at the zombie, he fired the 2nd crossbow bolt. Amazingly the bolt went straight through the Undead Pikachu's upper back and embed itself in one of the grooves of the pavement, locking the Undead Pikachu in place.

"How did I lock a bolt into the pavement's control groove?" Mark thought out loud.

"Control groove?" Ash asked.

"Those straight grooves you see in pavement, they're used to control where the concrete cracks. I somehow got the bolt wedged in one."

"Looks deep," said Tesla, "You know, this Undead Pikachu is the most passive one I'd seen so far. It doesn't appear to be interested in me or Ash's Pikachu."

"Emolga," Emolga stammered, "E- Emolga! Emolga!"

"Oh crap," Mark sighed, "Emolga's acting up again, I better take her inside. Someone put this Undead Pikachu down, will yeah."

Mark picked up the sack of supplies Ash was carrying and carried it inside, "Pikachu!" Pikachu got down from Ash's shoulder and approach Tesla, he said something in his language in sheer worry. Ash saw how unstable his Pikachu was becoming, once again seeing another of his kind Undead. Though Tesla kept his cool, like he doesn't even care.

"What is Pikachu saying, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"He said that this Pikachu was the one that Iris messed with when you and your friends met the Pikachus," said Tesla, "He can tell by the way it was moving its arms, somehow."

Ash looked at the Undead Pikachu again and saw it was locked onto his Pikachu and Tesla, completely ignoring him. Tesla glanced at the Undead Pikachu before returning his attention to Ash, "The Pikachus won't take it very well if I put down another of their own, I'll leave this one up to you, Ash."

"Tes-"

"What if it was your Pikachu?" Tesla interrupted, "What if he turned and lay rotten at your feet? I'm sorry, Ash, there are plenty of Undead Pikachus on this island. If you want to protect your Pokémon, then you must kill their former kind, even if they don't exactly agree on it."

Ash glanced at his own Pikachu and it looked back at him with tears in his eyes, he looked away as Tesla placed an arm around his shoulders, "Put the varmint out of his misery, Ash. I'll take your Pikachu inside so he doesn't watch, he had seen enough of his own kind go already. How you euthanize that Undead Pikachu, is down to you."

Pikachu looked at him again, his eyes sadder than before. Tesla got his attention and took him back inside. As he does so, Pikachu looked over his shoulder a couple times. Ash tried his best not to show his emotions, but did show he was worried. When Pikachu and Tesla walked back inside, Ash just shook his head, _He just saw right through me,_ he thought, _Right _into _me._

Ash returned his attention to the Undead Pikachu, still trapped from the crossbow bolt. He held up the crowbar and looked at the Pokémon's eyes. The red eyes glowed quite bright in the pitch-black town, making it more scarier than it was. But the Undead Pikachu didn't show aggression, it just sat there trying to reach for Ash. Groaning and moaning as if it wwere in pain, yet the moans were barely a whisper that sounded like it came from someone's head. But this wasn't insanity, it was real, and it must be dealt with.

The Undead Pikachu stopped groaning and gurgling and looked at Ash, his expression showed recognition. That wouldn't be a surprise, since he had seen him before. No, there was nothing left of these Undead. Just nothing of their former selves. It had to be deception, yet Ash wasn't so sure. Either way, the Undead Pikachu was long gone, "I'm sorry." Ash simply said.

He raised the crowbar and smashed it down on top of the Undead Pikachu's head. The claw end got embedded in the neck. The Undead Pikachu seemingly yelped from the blow, but didn't react much. Its arms and head went limp, still moaning in its torment. When Ash pulled the crowbar out, he took a chunk of flesh out.

Ash hammered him a 2nd time, this time directly on the Undead Pikachu's head. The skull cracked, but it still lived. It gurgled and moaned from the blow. It was now having a hard time looking at him, now it just stared off into space. Ash squeezed his eyes shut and looked away for a moment, then quickly hit him a third time.

He felt the Undead Pikachu's skull bursting and it went silent. When he opened his eyes, he saw the crowbar embedded in the Undead Pikachu's skull, deep into a puddle of pulverized brains, "This is mad," Ash said as he pulled the crowbar out, "Oh gosh, what have I done?"

_Get back inside, Ash_. He told himself.

Ash left the Undead Pikachu where it lay and headed back inside the Pokémon Center, Wally closed the shutters and sat back down without saying a word. Tesla sat in the lobby with his Pikachu, the elder was trying to comfort him. He saw the bloody crowbar, which was dripping dead blood on the floor. Tesla sighed as he looked at Ash in the eyes, "Not so easy, was it?"

"How did you handle it when . . . You know?"

"I have my own personal issues, you don't want to know."

Pikachu jumped off the couch and rushed up to Ash, the trainer sat the crowbar aside and picked up his Pokémon, "You okay?" Ash asked.

The Mouse Pokémon said nothing, it just held onto Ash with a tight grip. He scratched the back of Pikachu's head and looked at Tesla, "Where's Mark?"

"He's going over the loot you guys collected with the others," said Tesla, "You best get some rest, Ash. It would be another busy day tomorrow."

"Night, Tesla."

"Goodnight."

**. . .**

Pikachu sat in a chair as Ash worked on something, the moans of the Undead were picking up again. Like it was on schedule? The Mouse Pokémon wasn't too sure, he wanted to sleep but the Undead was keeping him up.

_Do those things were sleep? _He thought to himself.

He picked up the bottled water sitting next to him and took a sip. It had a pink tint to it, but it didn't taste like pink lemonade or strawberries. It was from a multivitamin that Nurse Joy put into them, it can either be consumed by human or Pokémon. It tasted stale, bitter. But it was water, Pikachu wondered to himself if he can keep his strength up. Eating once a day, drinking this, "water", once a day. Was this living? Survival? What was it?

Pikachu missed the life before, the adventures he and Ash goes on. Battling Pokémon, winning badges from those battles. It was a life much more better than this. All of the problems he had dealt with, or thought he had no control, cannot be compared to this Undead apocalypse. This "nightmare" as the humans were calling it. Pikachu took another sip of the pinkish water and stared at the wall, the dramatic decrease in calories was taking its toll on him.

He wanted to go home, go back to Kanto, back to Pallet Town, and back to Ash's house with his mom and Mimey. The only problem was that Ash's mom was here in the Pokémon Center, and so was Professor Oak. What were they doing here in the first place? Never had he ever seen so many uprooted people and Pokémon before, only to watch them die just 3 meters away from him. Pikachu felt a surge of emotion, but suppress it. Suffering Pokémon was a hard thing to watch, especially if it they suffer in a place where it was supposed to help them feel better.

All this Pokémon Center does now was keep them alive, not making them, or anyone, feel better. If only-

"AHH!"

Pikachu jumped and shot towards the direction of the scream, that sounded like Ash, "Pika P!?" Pikachu cried, _Ash?_

He sat down the bottled water and ran off towards the source of the scream. Pikachu ran down the stairs and...

Saw an Undead taking a deep bite into his trainer's neck.

"Pika!" Pikachu screamed, _No!_

Pikachu summoned up his energy and fired a Thunderbolt at the Undead. The walking corpse was hit by the blast of electricity and shot across the room, horribly singed from the electric burn. But it was still moving, it growled and moan just as it was slouching back up. Pikachu shot his tail up and formed an Electro Ball, then leaped up into the air and tossed it at the Undead. He scored a headshot, the Undead's head exploded and black confetti showered the walls and ceiling. The zombie flopped on its back, fully dead.

But he wasn't the only one fully dead.

"Pika P!" Pikachu cried, _Ash!_

He rushed up to Ash and checked the damage, the Undead had bitten deep into his neck and took out the two major blood vessels. Blood oozed onto the floor and pooled around his body, every muscle in Pikachu's body ached at the sight of it. His heart felt like it had dissolved in acid inside his chest, the Mouse Pokémon shook his head as tears started to form.

"Pikachu," he cried, "Pikachu!" _Help! Help me!_

Pikachu looked around and saw no one was there, the entire Pokémon Center felt eerie silent. He heard nothing but his own heartbeat, breathing, and the drone of the generator in the basement. Pikachu was alone and helpless. What made it worse, was that there wouldn't be anyone to help him in this new world. Everyone was dead.

He used Thundershock on Ash in a futile attempt to bring him back, after a few seconds of yellow light he got no response. Pikachu whimpered for a moment then let out his grief, he held his head down and cried loudly. Tears fell on the floor, mixing with Ash's spilled blood. He wondered where in the world was everybody, he needed someone to hug, someone who would wipe away his tears. But there was nothing here, everybody and everything was gone.

But why was everything gone? Pikachu puzzled himself with that question. Why was this happening? This isn't how a bond between a trainer and his-

Pikachu felt another surge of emotion and let it out, his cries got louder and the tears got bigger, "Pikachu!" Pikachu cried. _Somebody!_

The Mouse Pokémon rested his head on Ash's body, he felt whatever strength and hope he had left drain away, like oil being poured out. His crying wasn't helping. He didn't care. Pikachu thought his life, and life on this world, is over. The other side was no doubt worse, since the dead weren't staying dead. Just halfway, into these monstrosities that just kill and eat. Their victims become Undead themselves, starting the cycle all over again...

Wait a second.

Pikachu shot back when he felt Ash's body move, the Mouse Pokémon's eyes were big as they can be as he gazed into the red eyes of his dead trainer. No, he was Undead.

_Uh-oh_. Pikachu thought, maybe his last thought.

Ash snarled and growled as he reached out a hand at Pikachu, he shot back and fired another Thundershock at him. The electricity didn't faze him, Ash just continue to crawl towards his Pikachu with thirst for his blood. Pikachu stumbled backwards and fell, he felt his hip snap. The shot of pain burned, but there was no time to focus on it.

He crawled his way towards the stairs, probably to some form of safety. Just as Ash got close again, Pikachu stunned him again with Thundershock. This time it was less effective, Ash picked up speed as he dragged himself across the floor to reach his Pikachu.

Pikachu tried to use Thundershock again, but this time his cheeks fizzled with static. Nothing. He was all out of electricity, and whatever was left was just sparks. Pikachu's heart beat so hard that he couldn't think straight from the blood pressure. Pikachu reached the stairs, but couldn't move his legs or arms. Fear had paralyzed his voluntary muscles, everything locked in place. There was nowhere else to run.

"Pika P!" cried Pikachu, "Pika Pika Pikachu!" _Ash! Don't do this!_

Ash responded by grabbing onto Pikachu's foot, he clamped down and crushed the Mouse Pokémon's ankle in the palm of his hand, "P! Pika, Pikachu," Pikachu squealed from the pain, "Pikachu, Pika P!" _AH! No, please! Don't do this, Ash!_

The trainer growled and snarled as he hoisted himself over his Pokémon, "Pika P, Pikachu Pika Pika Pikachu! Pikachu!" Pikachu pleaded as tears blinded his eyes. _Ash, I'm your Pokémon and best friend. I loved you!_

Ash opened his mouth, showing his teeth. His canines were unusually sharp, "Pikaaa!" Pikachu screamed at the top of his lungs. _NOOO!_

That was all the legible Pokémon words Pikachu was able to get out before Ash bit deep into Pikachu's shoulder, now all that was left were screams of horror.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	20. Ch 20: Terror of Twilight

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XX_

_Terror of Twilight_

Pikachu exploded out of bed screaming, knocking a surprised Ash to the floor. Just as he wondered what was going on, the first thing he saw was Pikachu running out the living quarters door. Confused and terrified, Ash quickly got to his feet and hit the lights, "Pikachu!" he cried.

"What the hell?" Mark asked, squinting from the bright lights as he woke up.

"Something's got Pikachu spooked!" said Ash.

"What!?" Iris asked as she stirred out of bed.

"Where did he go?" Brock asked.

"I don't know," said Ash, "He just ran out of the room screaming."

The rest of Ash's Pokémon stirred from the couch and quickly scrambled to their feet. As Ash ran after Pikachu, they quickly followed behind. The Mouse Pokémon's screaming echoed throughout the halls, waking more people in the other rooms. They all wondered out each door puzzled and clueless, but the people who were already up had guns drawn out and were on high alert. Tesla ran out of a room and rushed up to Ash, "What happened?"

"Pikachu got out of bed and started panicking," said Ash, "He ran out into the halls screaming!"

Tesla sighed, "A night terror. Damn Pokémon always gets them. Well, let's go find where he's headed or else he'll attract the Undead."

The group followed Pikachu's screaming towards its source, Delia came running out of the room with Professor Oak not far behind. With so many people up in their pajamas, it felt like a slumber party. But this felt more of a horror movie than anything, "Ash," Delia cried, "What is going on!?"

Ash just ran past here without saying anything, he got the feeling that this was going to-

"Pikachu!" roared Pikachu.

A sound of a blast of an electric attack thundered below, followed by a scream and bright flashing yellow lights. Several other people screamed from electric attacks. Shots were sounded. Within seconds, the only screaming left was Pikachu's. The tone remained unchanged.

When the group got downstairs, they saw several police officers and watchmen laying on the ground. Ash helped Wally up, who gladly took his hand and got back to his feet, "What's gotten into him?" he asked calmly.

"Night terror." said Ash.

Wally groaned, "This happens all the time."

"I think this one's different though." said Professor Oak.

"Why you say that?"

"Because Pikachu knocked all of you down with Thunderbolt and kept on running."

"Why would he do such a thing!?" Iris asked.

"Axew Axew!?" Axew added in panic.

"Maybe he's still dreaming," said Mark, "My Emolga has night terrors once a month, even when I wake her up she still thinks she's dreaming."

"Emolga." Emolga admitted with a nod.

Ash rushed towards Pikachu's screaming and found him clawing at one of the shuttered windows in sheer panic. He couldn't break the reinforced glass, he pounded his little fists at it and wouldn't even cracked it. Pikachu used Thunderbolt to blast through it, no effect, the glass held firm.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

Pikachu shot around, his cheeks were sparking with electricity and his eyes were bulging with blind terror. He hyperventilated, just stared at Ash and the others as he tried to figure out what to do, "Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon cried in rapid-fire speech.

"Oh f*ck," cursed Tesla, "He thinks we're all dead and we're trying to eat him. I'm sorry, Ash, but Pikachu had lost his head."

"He's insane!?" Mark blurted out.

"Pikachu," cried Ash, "We're NOT dead, we're alive. We don't want to hurt you, please calm down!"

"Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu!" Pikachu barked.

"Ash," Tesla warned with a serious tone, "Pikachu has Overcharge. He's pinned into a corner so he'll give it all he got in an act of desperation. He'll kill you with one blast of a Thunderbolt, then cook you until theirs nothing left."

"That doesn't make it easier," said Ash, rolling his eyes, "But thanks for the tip."

Tesla grinned, "Don't worry, I know the mouth to mouth."

Somewhere in the crowd behind him, someone snickered. Ash ignored it and refocused his attention on Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon stared at him as if he doesn't know him. He wondered what he was supposed to do, the slightest move in the wrong direction would cost him or somebody else's life. He used a quick few seconds to think of a plan, and decided to try an indirect approach. There were two possible previous situations that he might try. One was Pikachu's first Undead kill, the other was accidentally leading the Undead Sparky to his first and only meal. Ash had to pick one of them, fast.

He chose the latter.

"You didn't lead Sparky to kill that Pikachu, buddy. It wasn't your fault. It was just a bad moment at the worst possible time. You aren't to blame!"

Pikachu just stared at him, as if he didn't know what he was talking about.

Tesla snorted, "I don't think silly human words is going to affect him, Ash, let me try."

The elder Pikachu cleared his throat and spoke in the Pokémon language, "Pikachu, Pika Pika Pika Pikachu. Pika Pika Pika P, Pika Pika Pikachu. Pika Pika Pika Pika Pika Pika P, Pikachu. Pikachu, Pika Pika Pikachu!"

Pikachu just stared at him with the same expression as before, clearly having no effect. He edged closer to the back wall until his rear was pressing against it, he began shivering in fear as more sparks fired out of his cheeks, wanting to escape towards the ground. Control was slipping out of Ash's grasp, he felt the adrenaline kicking as the tension started climbing, "What did you say to him?" Ash asked Tesla.

"I translated what you said," said Tesla, "Looks like it didn't do much good."

"Axew!" Axew said as he jumped off of Iris' shoulders.

He walked up to Pikachu with arms stretched out, maybe trying to give him a hug, "Axew, Axew Axew Ax-"

Pikachu jumped back and glowed yellow, "Pikachu!"

A Thundershock and struck Axew hard, the power of it knocked him back and threw him against Brock and Wally, knocking the two off their feet. Iris squealed and rushed over to Axew's aid, the Tusk Pokémon's eyes flickered open, "Are you okay, Axew!"

Axew didn't respond right away, he laid on his back for a moment before sticking his thumb up, followed by a smile, "Axew!"

"I wish Togetic was here," said Misty, "He might help us here."

Ash stepped forward, holding up a hand, "Pikachu," he cried, "We're not dead! We're your friends! It's all in your head, we're still alive!"

The trainer got a little too close, his Pokémon started up another electric charge, "Pika-"

Mark rushed up and knocked Ash to the floor.

"CHU!"

The Thunderbolt arched where Ash stood and kept on going, it traveled straight towards the back of the crowd. Others cleared the area as fast as they can, but someone got hit. That person glowed yellow as his limbs jerked. Foam came out of his mouth, choking off his screams. Blood came out of his eyes, nose, and ears from the electricity as it boiled his blood vessels. When the Thunderbolt ceased, the person collapsed and fell flat on his back. Dead.

Ash saw every moment of it, he wondered if it was for real, "Ash!" cried Mark.

"Emolga!" Mark's Emolga ran up and tried her best to help, Mark simply scratched her head and picked her back up.

"Thanks for the save." Ash managed to say.

Mark grabbed Ash's hand and nod, "I got your back as always."

"Emolga." Emolga agreed.

Just as Mark and Ash were getting back up, Tesla charged at Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon fired another electric attack, this time at his older counterpart. The whole room glowed bright yellow, nearly blinding everybody in the room. Tesla took the blunt of it but pushed on, seemingly unaffected by the Thunderbolt. He held up the butt of his pistol and smashed it hard into Pikachu's cheek, then the other one. Finally, he tossed the gun aside and grabbed Pikachu's red cheeks with both hands and squeezed hard. Bright bluish-white light encompassed both Pikachus in an awful buzzing sound that sounded like a faulty Tesla coil. It lasted just a brief few seconds before the light show ceased.

"Ash," cried Delia as she rushed up to her son, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Ash, "Thanks to Mark."

Ash glanced at Pikachu, Tesla still had his grip on his Pikachu's cheeks. He held him up in the air with his feet barely touching around, Tesla looked into Pikachu's eyes for a moment. Pikachu hyperventilated, his arms and legs trembled in fright. When Tesla let him go, the Mouse Pokémon landed on his rear and collapsed to the floor. Terribly weak.

"I think that done it." Tesla concluded.

"What did you do?" Professor Oak asked.

"I absorbed all the electricity in his body and stunned his electro glands with blunt trauma, he wouldn't be shooting sparks out for a few days or unleash electric attacks."

"It's impossible to shut down an electric-type Pokémon's electric glands!"

Tesla smirked and spoke in a blunt tone, "Well, I just did."

Ash rushed up to Pikachu and dropped to his knees, "Pikachu!" he cried as he picked him up.

The trainer cradled his Mouse Pokémon like an infant and turned his head so the Pokémon was looking directly at him. Pikachu's expression remained unchanged, he continued to hyperventilate as his eyes remained locked in horror.

"Get him a lunch bag!" Ash cried.

Brock rushed up with a lunch bag a minute later. Ash placed the bag over Pikachu's mouth and he began breathing into it. His eyes drooped, relaxing from the reused air. Ash told Pikachu to take deep breaths and he nodded in response, a sign he was reclaiming lucidity. After a few minutes of breathing, Pikachu pushed the bag aside and blinked, "Pika P?" he asked, looking up at his trainer with surprise.

"It was just a dream, Pikachu." Ash said calmly.

Tears formed in Pikachu's eyes. He grabbed Ash with his tiny hands, clutching him tightly for protection and love. He started talking in an upset voice, Ash couldn't understand the Pokémon language, till Tesla stepped in to help.

"Pikachu," said Tesla as he sat a hand on the younger Pikachu's shoulder, "What was the dream about? Come on, we're your friends here."

Pikachu looked at him with watery eyes and told Tesla what his night terror was, "He thought you were dead, Ash," Tesla explained as he shook his head, "In the dream: He saw you got bit by an Undead in the neck and died on the spot. Just as he was in the middle of mourning over your corpse. You . . . came back and pinned him to the floor. You know what happens next."

"Damn," muttered Mark as he leaned against the wall, "That explains a lot."

"That was just a dream," Ash said to Pikachu, "It didn't happen."

"Pikachu Pika Pika." Pikachu sobbed.

"He said it happened to a . . . Dawn?" Tesla translated, "Who's Dawn?"

"Pikachu killed an Undead for biting one of our friends," said Ash, "That was on Day 1, we didn't understand what was happening at the time."

"That, along with Emolga and four Pikachus turning and dying, was enough to push him over the edge of insanity. Just what I figured would happen."

"Pika . . . Pika Pika." Pikachu muttered.

"He's blaming himself for that Pikachu being eaten by Sparky." said Tesla.

"It wasn't your fault, Pikachu!" Ash insisted, trying to keep his voice down.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"He's asking if he hurt anybody during his psychotic episode."

An Undead roared loudly in the background as if on cue, then a gunshot rang out with a thud following suit, "Got it!" reassured Natas.

"Well," said Tesla, "There's your answer."

Pikachu broke down crying again, "Pikachu." he sobbed.

"He said he feels cold," said Tesla, he laid a hand on Pikachu's belly to check his temperature, "Holy crap, he is feeling cold. Someone get him a blanket!"

Professor Oak rushed to help, he was about to take Pikachu into his own arms when-

"Pika!" Pikachu screamed in a high-pitched voice, burrowing his face into Ash's undershirt for protection.

"Don't, he'll slip into shock!" Tesla warned, sounding more concerned than before.

"I'm a trained professional," said Oak, "I had treated Pokémon like him before!"

Tesla held out his arms to block Oak's advance, "He just had a brush with insanity and he killed a human being with it. I have experience in this field. Pikachu stays in Ash's company as we give him all the help we have."

Professor Oak looked at him in surprised, "You know anything about Pokémon Medicine?"

Tesla growled, "I was ripped out of my parent's arms, locked in a tiny cage, and shipped around from Pokémon lab to Pokémon lab. Pikachu here just got a taste of what it feels like to have a loved one taken away, I'd been feeling it for 80 years! Why do you even think you view me as a sociopath to begin with!?"

Misty rushed up with a blanket and handed it to Ash, he carefully wrapped his Pikachu with and made sure it was snug. It wasn't enough, Pikachu began to shiver. Not in fear though, but from the drop in body temperature. Ash realized how cold Pikach was getting when he saw the area above his nose turned blue, "We need to get him more blankets!" he stated as he stood up.

"Get him back to the living quarters," said Tesla, "Mark, get him something warm to drink. Misty, Iris, find a few more blankets around Pikachu's size. Wally, keep the other Pikachus away from the room unless Ash requests it."

"Sound's like a plan," said Mark, "I know just what to give him."

"Emolga!" Emolga added with enthusiasm.

"Where does Nurse Joy keep the blankets?" Misty asked.

"Somewhere in the upper floors." said Wally.

"We gotta get him something warm," said Iris, "I know a technique that might help."

"Axew!" Axew added, also with enthusiasm.

As the group scattered to follow Tesla's instructions, Ash held tightly to Pikachu as he approached his unintended victim. A man in his thirties sat against the wall. His clothes and skin were charred from the Thunderbolt, was Pikachu that powerful? The other survivors gathered and stared at the corpse for a moment, then at Ash. He saw a chunk of the man's head was blown off, with still fresh blood splattered on the corner of the wall.

"It took minutes for him to turn," said Natas as he holstered his pistol, "I stood there and stared at him after Pikachu shocked him, whatever skin that wasn't charred turned gray and his eyes became evil. How long does it take for you for the brain to die from lack of Oxygen, 5 minutes?"

"Or 8 minutes," said Mark as he walked up, "If you're that efficient."

A kid, somewhere around his early childhood. Rushed up to the corpse crying, Natas quickly grabbed him and pulled him away. He burrowed his head into Natas' side and sobbed loudly, it made Emolga wanna cry as well, "There, there," said Natas as he pat the kid on the back, "Everything's going to be alright."

The kid turned towards Ash, his watery blue eyes looked deep into the trainer before glancing at his Mouse Pokémon, "I won't hold Pikachu accountable." the boy said.

"I'm taking full responsibility," said Mark, he glanced at the corpse again and shook his head, "Had I haven't pushed Ash out of the way, Pikachu's nightmare might had come true and it would continue to escalate."

He turned to Ash and asked, "Do you believe that in order to save a life, someone else has to die?"

"No." said Ash.

"I think we've all seen an example," Mark glanced back at the corpse, "Gosh, what a mess. Had Tesla done what he did earlier, this would had been prevented. Then again, I feel like we're delaying the inevitable. Even if we beat the Walkers and rebuilt society, we'll still wound up Undead from natural causes. The dead always win."

"Do you agree?" He added.

Ash thought about his answer, "Is there a way that we can preserve who we are _if _we turn?"

"It takes a strong will, but I doubt it. Do whatever Tesla says, I'll go get your Pikachu something warm to drink."

"Thanks, Mark."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

**. . .**

Within the hour, Ash was back in the living quarters. Iris and Misty managed to find some blankets for Pikachu and gave them to him. Ash wrapped the blankets around Pikachu, he continued to shiver despite the extra insulation. Brock checked Pikachu's temperature, the reading was 35.9 degrees Celsius. Normal temperature for a Mouse Pokémon was supposed to be around 36.9. It was getting worse, and the blankets weren't helping much.

"Pikachu must had slipped into shock when Tesla snapped him out of it," said Brock, "He was a bit rough, was he?"

"I'm just glad we didn't have to use the _other _alternative." said Ash.

"I never seen him like this before, was the dream that terrifying?"

"He thought we were all dead, it was that terrifying, Brock."

Tesla came back into the room, pushing a room heater. He positioned it somewhere near the room and plugged it into a power outlet, then turned it on and programmed the heater, "I persuaded Nurse Joy to make this room an exception about heat conservation," said Tesla, "She had all the unused rooms heat inducts shut off just to compensate for the increased energy demand, we'll be sleeping cozy tonight."

"What time is it?" Ash asked.

Tesla looked at the clock, "Quarter after 2."

Ash looked outside and saw it was still black, the temperature outside was no doubt near freezing. He returned his gaze at Pikachu, and saw he wasn't improving. He was getting weaker, as far as he can tell, "I got an idea," said Tesla, "It should work."

"What's the plan?" Ash asked.

"First step, take off your shirt."

"Wha-"

"You want to help your buddy or not?"

Ash didn't argue back, he sat Pikachu in his lap and took off his undershirt, "Now take all the blankets off of Pikachu and hold him up to your chest, where he can feel your heartbeat and breathing."

The trainer nodded and removed all the blankets off of Pikachu, then picked him up and held him up to his chest, "Now, take all those blankets and wrap yourself and Pikachu in them."

Brock helped Ash by putting all the blankets around him, Pikachu felt cold against his skin but he can feel the temperature start to change already, "That should help keep Pikachu warm and his anxiety down," said Tesla, "Works every time."

"How do you know?" Ash asked.

Tesla smiled, "Back before that fateful day, when I was in the wild with my family. Every time I get sick, my mother held me in her arms and cuddled me. She kept me warm as we were tucked in to a small pocket of our nest. All the other family members pitch in to help, they helped fed me and give me water. It's a natural behavior for the Mouse Pokémon, more common than in human culture. The world just felt right in those bad days."

"I think it's working."

"Just keep him warm and don't _ever _put him down, even if either of you needed to go to the bathroom. Leaving him, even for a second, _will_ cause him to slip back to shock or insanity. If you're going to do something, you'll have to take him everywhere you go. Whatever you do, just don't set him down on something or give him to someone else. You understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh, Ash," said Mark as he came into the room, "I got the stuff."

Mark held up a 2 liter glass bottle of light brown opaque liquid, Ash raised an eyebrow at the sight of it, "What is that?"

"Chocolate milk," said Mark, "All warmed up."

"Emolga." Emolga nodded.

"It will warm Pikachu up and make him feel better."

"You sure?" Ash asked.

"How do you think I got my shiny sprite to calm down after Tesla put down the normal sprite?"

Emolga chuckled from humor Ash didn't get. Mark handed the bottle to him and he stared at it for a moment, then held the spout up to Pikachu's mouth, "Drink this buddy," said Ash, "It will make you feel better."

Pikachu opened his mouth and Ash poured the chocolate milk in, the Mouse Pokémon reached up with his tiny hands and grabbed the bottle and began gulping it down. Ash couldn't help but realized how adorable he looked with all the blankets and the milk bottle, "How much should I give him, Mark?"

"Until his belly is full," said Mark, "I don't know how chocolate milk does it but it can calm the most disturbed Pokémon, works on Emolga and my other Pokémon every time."

"Sounds like redneck medicine." Tesla blurted out.

"Mark laughed, "That just about sums it up."

"Did you grow up at the farm or something?"

"No, but my mom did."

"I wonder how she's doing in times like this, she was quite fond of me."

Mark frowned, "The reason why she left my dad was because of your trouble with the law."

Tesla smiled and nod, "Ah, those were bad times."

"Mostly for you, until Ash came along."

Ash shook his head and sighed, "You guys reflect on the past a lot."

"Well," said Mark, "That time was a lot better than this."

"I don't think getting shot at was all that great." said Tesla.

Mark sat down on his couch and cuddled his Emolga, "Whatever."

"You two don't seem to like each other." Brock added.

"You weren't there when Tesla fried my Magnemite and knocked out the rest of my Pokémon." said Mark.

Tesla shrugged, "I sense an idiot when I see one."

"I hate it when you're right."

"Emolga." Mark's Emolga added.

"Well, that's my curse. What do you expect, a diploma?"

Tesla hopped on the bed and examined Pikachu, he placed his hand on the Mouse Pokémon's forehead and nod, "He's getting better already," said Tesla, "Amazing."

Pikachu pushed the chocolate milk bottle away and burped, Ash held it up and check to see how much was left, "He drank half of it, wow!"

"You gotta love how a Mouse Pokémon eats," said Tesla, "They're very gluttonous at the worst of times."

"Speaking of Pikachus..." Mark said.

He placed a thumb and finger into his mouth and let out a loud whistle that pierced Ash's ears. Within seconds, everyone heard tiny feet scattering across the floor out in the hall. Sure enough, a female Pikachu rushed into the room and jumped up at Mark, "Pikachu!" she said as she began licking all over Mark's face.

"Ugh!" Mark groaned as he gotten a hold of his Pikachu, "You little turd!"

Emolga snickered at that quote, until Mark's Pikachu licked Emolga in the face. She was all over Mark and Emolga as they struggled to gain control of her, the Pikachu finally calmed down and laughed in Mark's arms as he bounced her up and down on his knee, "Wild little thing."

Plusle and Minun came running in, the Cheering Pokémon duo rushed up to Mark and clutched each of his legs. Mark didn't try to shake them off, he let them have their fun, "All I have left are my guns and Pokémon," said Mark, "So much for my dreams on becoming an electrician."

"You taught them how to shoot?" Tesla asked.

"Yes, I did. I taught them how to fire and maintain guns with ease. It took a few weeks for them to get the hang of it. All it cost them was their innocence and several hundred rounds of ammunition."

Mark picked up his Cheering Pokémon and sat them on the cot, then laid down with them, "Time to get some shuteye, we have a big day tomorrow guys."

"Yup," said Ash as he slumped on his bed, clutching his Pikachu in his arms, "Goodnight."

Brock approached the light switch and flipped it down, the lights on the ceiling were instantly killed. The only light shining was from out in the hall from the open door, "Goodnight." said Brock.

"Goodnight, Pikachu," said Ash as he readjusted his hold so he was supporting his Pikachu's head.

"Pika P." Pikachu said softly.

"I'll keep an eye out as you sleep," said Tesla, "See you in the morning."

"Don't let the Walkers bite." Mark said with a snicker.

"That rifle of yours might make sure they don't come 10 meters near me."

Mark sighed, "We're going to need all the firepower we can get."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	21. Ch 21: One Month Later

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXI_

_One month later..._

It was barely a sunny morning, the sky was an eerie tan with some blotches of gray clouds, covering the sun on a random pattern. At noon, there was a tiny hint of blue. For most folks in Faraday Island – and possibly around the world – not a single soul had seen blue sky since the first few days of the Undead outbreak. The town of Carson seemed abandoned, with no power running or water flowing it was dead. The occasional body lay where they dropped, rotting for weeks on end and giving out the unmistakable putrid smell. Most of the blood spilled and splattered on the streets were washed away by countless rainstorms, then sterilized by the sun's UV rays until they turn to dust and blow away. It did little to candy coat the apocalypse.

The Undead limped around, wandering aimlessly, searching for a dinner that may or may not come. Their faces locked in a grin that never changes, almost sneering – or rather looking confused, like drunks after a hitting the bar rather too hard. It was like they were searching for something, or maybe, somewhere deep down, they were hoping for relief for their endless torment.

One straggler, a fifty-something year old wearing a tattered and bloodied gray golf shirt and blue jeans, approached what was left of a dead Pokémon. It glared at it, as if it was curious. The Pokémon corpse was torn up and partially eaten recently, so horribly mutilated that it bare no resemblance to what it once was. Clearly it was a quadruped Pokémon, with some signs that it may be a grass-type. But it wasn't a Pokémon anymore, just a dead thing who's suffering was finally over. The Undead moaned, it bent down, struggling against the rigor mortis as its joints popped and cracked. It got down to its knees, picking up the Pokémon corpse with its gray decomposing hands and began to feast.

Ash watched 50 meters away behind some abandoned cars, he kept a tight grip on the binoculars as he focused in on the Undead. The other zombies didn't notice that one of their comrades had stumbled into a feast. A few glanced over at it, but they showed no interest. They just turned their stiff heads away and went back walking, wherever direction they were headed.

"What do you see?" Mark asked, clutching his crossbow with a tight grip.

"Emolga?" his Emolga whispered as she gripped her suppressed .22 Ruger pistol in her tiny hands.

"4 Undead humans," said Ash, "One of them is eating some Pokémon remains."

Mark peeked over the car and saw it for himself, he snorted, "At least he's getting something to eat, hate to interrupt his meal."

"Take the shot if you want." Ash encouraged.

"Sure, why not."

Mark aimed his crossbow while using the car to support the weight, he dialed in the range between him and the Undead in his scope and took aim, "Going hot."

The crossbow bolt soared through the air in less than a second and stabbed the Undead square in the eye, burrowing in deep. The Undead snapped its head back as the momentum of the bolt knocked him on his back, his lunch broke free from his hands and plopped on the asphalt. Several Undead looked on but didn't care, they showed no emotion from seeing one of their own fall. They have no soul, no moral compass, nothing to make them feel. They just continued walking around lopsided, unaware that they weren't far from finding living meat.

They learned too late.

Mark reloaded the crossbow and took aim again, he let another bolt fly and it dropped another Undead. He reloaded and fired, striking another Undead in the temple. Gravity pulled the corpse back to earth as the legs relaxed. The final bolt struck the last Undead in the back of the neck, it fell flat on its face. Its muscles twitched, but it didn't get back up.

"Clear." Mark announced.

"Nice marksmanship." Ash complimented.

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered in approval.

Mark grinned, "I guess my Dad naming me Mark had paid off. Come on, let's see what's on the corpses before more Walkers show up."

Mark and Ash stepped out of hiding and loot the bodies. All they had on them were wallets, Mark managed to get a combined total of $55 pokédollars. Ash wondered what money was good for these days, since the value to the pokédollar had soared from hyperinflation. He wasn't sure if any store still open in the apocalypse, still taking in banknotes. Either way, money isn't food. Money can't feed Ash's Pokémon.

"I was hoping for some ammunition," said Mark, "But money would have to do."

"Good luck with that." Ash said sarcastically.

Mark looked around and centered in the Pokémon corpse the Undead were eating earlier, he approached it and gave it a kick with his foot, "Well," he sighed, "that's another meal lost. They're eating anything they could get a hold of."

"It smells bad," said Ash, "There goes my appetite."

"Pikachu." his Pikachu added.

Mark and Ash walked off and head down the street, they checked all the ruined stores as they passed by. They were cleaned out, no food, tools, or ammo anywhere. Every one of them was stripped to their frames by other survivors, some of them by other foraging parties from the Pokémon Center. Ash heard Pikachu's stomach growl, he turned and saw him rubbed his belly. The Mouse Pokémon whimpered under his breath as the pain continue to gnaw out his gut.

"I can't believe we went through all that commissary food in 5 weeks," said Mark, "There seemed so much at the time."

"I just knew it was going to run out sooner or later when we started letting more people in," said Ash, "Wally isn't too happy because of it, I heard him muttered to himself about the problem more than once."

"I don't blame him. I'm scared, Ash. My Pokémon are going hungry and I'm having trouble feeding them."

"We're all hungry, Mark."

"I overheard Tesla talking in his sleep, he was thinking about eating the other Pikachus. Damn, I thought he was joking when he told us he's a cannibal. I guess he wasn't."

Ash peered through a car's windows and saw nothing of interest, he shook his head, "Like he ever lied to us."

"If I had a secret like that," said Mark, "I would keep it to myself. That isn't something you should share with others, ain't no one going to figure it out if he just kept his mouth shut."

"He has no problem seeing the Undead Pikachus eating their own, that would hint his unusual trait."

"I honestly think it isn't unusual, he was born in the wild. Any wild Pikachu might had picked up the habit, my own Pikachu could be a cannibal herself. She is Tesla's descendent after all."

"Pika." Pikachu muttered under his breath.

"Is everything okay, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Pikachu gave a sheepish nod, but Ash can tell he wasn't okay. His fur still shiver and his face lacked a smile, had been for a long time. Ash missed seeing him happy, his little buddy always brightened everybody's day. Ever since that fateful day, he hadn't shown much of a smile. Ash wanted to help Pikachu, but he can't. He didn't know how to help him manage something like this.

"How's your Pikachu?" said Mark, "He wasn't the same since he lost his head that day."

"He hadn't improved much," said Ash, "But he's recovering."

Ash reached up and scratched one of Pikachu's ears, he cooed from the pleasure, showing a fake smile.

"How's your other Pokémon doing?" Mark asked.

Ash shrugged, "Not much better than yours I'm afraid."

"Your Snivy seemed she's fairing better than the others."

"She was the first of my Pokémon who accepted reality, I wondered how she did it."

"Eh, she's one of those Pokémon who had seen the dark side of humanity. I'm sure she got advice from Tesla, he was quite supportive of her when she broke down in tears from Iris' Emolga's demise."

Ash peered inside another store and saw an Undead eating a corpse. It looked up at Ash with red glowing eyes, bleeding from the gums. It opened its jaw and moaned, dropping a chunk of flesh from its mouth. Ash held up Mark's silenced .22 varmint rifle and shot the Undead between the eyes, it dropped face first and flopped to the floor. He fired another round into the head of its dinner, just to be sure it wouldn't come back.

"Try not to use too much ammunition," said Mark, "They worth their weight in-"

"Gold?" Ash finished.

"Uh, yes – gold."

Ash pulled the bolt back and reloaded the rifle, then cocked it, "I wonder how that trader is doing."

Last week, a trader pulled up to the Pokémon Center on a flat bed truck. The flatbed truck was armored with sheets of metal and wooden boards. His bodyguard was armed the .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a custom-made turret in the back of the truck. With coal-colored blood splattered all over the bumper of the flatbed truck, the trader clearly meant business.

His name was Ralph Beretta, Beretta was eager to show his goods to the others. After earning his trust with Wally and the other police officers, several survivors pitched in to see what he had. Beretta preferred silver and gold coins for his goods, but he still takes pokédollars. However, due to inflation, a small box of apples cost at least $800 pokédollars.

Beretta would barter however, he needed medical supplies. He explained that he had a daughter who was sick from Cholera, and requests some antibiotics. Nurse Joy lend him a box of high-grade antibiotics in exchanged for several ammo boxes of .22s, .357s, .44s, and 9mms. Ralph could never be happier.

Mark looked around and spotted a .22 Ruger pistol in the supplies, and so held up 2 silver coins, and $500 pokédollars in exchanged for the pistol. When he got it, Mark handed it to his Emolga who gladly took it. He then bought a suppressor for the Ruger in exchanged for a liter of powdered milk. Mark then handed the suppressor to Emolga, she managed to attach it to the barrel of her new pistol with ease. To Mark, it was a fair deal.

Once everyone was done shopping, Ralph said he'll be back next week for a new deal. Ash watched him drive off down the road, as several Undead lumbered behind.

Now he wished Ralph would be back, cause he had a lot of food in his truck.

"Thinking about something, Ash?" Mark asked.

Ash snapped out of his delirium, "Uh, nothing. Let's move on."

Ash and Mark head down the street and spotted two more Undead, "4 Walkers, all human." said Mark.

Emolga tapped her trainer's shoulder, "Emolga!"

"What, Emolga?" Mark asked.

She held up her pistol and aimed at the Undead, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon bounced her knees on his shoulder as she showed a silly smile, a rare expression these days. Mark can already tell what she wanted, he didn't oppose, "Go right ahead, Emolga."

"Emo." Emolga viciously nodded.

Ash stepped back and watched Emolga took aim, she fired 4 shots in rapid-fire succession. The Undead took a bullet to the head one at a time in less than two seconds, all with barely an audible _put _sound. The 4 zombies slumped over and dropped to the asphalt, barely bleeding black blood from their head wounds. Emolga smiled as she flips the safety back on her pistol and cheered, "_Emolga!_" she sang.

"Dead Eye," said Mark, "Get's them every time."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Dead Eye?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"You simply pick your targets, then shoot." Mark explained, "But you have milliseconds to do it, so you have to be fast. Only few humans and Pokémon can do it properly, me, my dad, my Emolga, and Tesla."

"That's a skill I would like to teach my Pokémon."

"Well, Ash, it takes serious concentration. Sometimes you have to do it a while being shot at."

"Um..."

Mark grinned, "Talk to Tesla about it, he'll know more. I'm sure your experience with the PRA gave you clues on how its done."

Ash gulped, "I don't wish to think about it."

"Pikachu." Pikachu shook his head.

Mark and Ash approached the bodies and searched them, they went through the pockets and checked their belts to see if they had anything. Ash reached into one pocket and pulled out two shotgun shells. One was buckshot, the other appeared to be a slug. He examined them for a while for any defects, he found none.

"Found a couple of shotgun shells." he announced.

"There's a start." Mark simply says.

Ash pocketed the shells before checking the other pockets of the corpse. His hand felt a familiar round object. Ash felt a chill down his spine he hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. When he pulled it out, it was what he feared. It was a Poké ball. Pikachu jumped at the sight of the Poké ball and gasped, nearly losing his breath. Ash stared at it for a moment in petrifying fear, not wanting to know what it contains, "Oh geez..."

"What," Mark asked, "What did you find?"

"Emolga?" Emolga asked.

"A Poké ball," said Ash, he handed it to Mark for him to see, "It's pocket-sized, there might be a Pokémon in it."

"Hm," he said as he examined the Poké ball. Mark glanced at the corpse it came from for a moment before turning his attention back, "The corpse is deteriorated, so whatever Pokémon is inside this Poké ball it must be a prison for him or her."

"We gotta let it out then!" Ash blurted

"Okay, Ash, stand back. Be ready to shoot when I call this Pokémon out. We don't know how long it had been in here, so if it goes on a killing frenzy we have to put it down. I'm sorry, Ash, we can't help everyone."

Ash didn't like that plan, but he was in no mood to argue, "Okay." he said as he held up the rifle

He got into a position readied himself, "Get ready." said Mark.

Mark pressed the white button to enlarged it, he sat his crossbow on the roof of an abandoned car and pulled out his 9mm pistol. He then tossed the Poké ball and quickly got into the Weaver stance, Emolga took aim with her pistol and prepared herself as well.

The Poké ball burst open and the Pokémon it contained materialized. The glow of light ceased, revealing a horrid sight.

It was a Shinx, the Flash Pokémon's eyes were glowing bright florescent red. Ash's heart sank, it had died in its Poké ball. Maybe it had starved to death, or dehydrated. Whatever the reason, it appeared frail and could barely moved. But Ash knew that was hindsight.

"Holy crap!" Mark said as he fired his pistol at the Shinx.

With his pistol not equipped with a silencer, the round let out a loud crack when it struck the Undead Shinx in the side. It wasn't fazed, it charged a while letting out a loud monstrous growl. Ash fired the varmint rifle, striking the Undead Shinx in the jaw but missed its forehead. It jumped and tackled Mark, slamming him into the side of an abandoned car and shattered one of its windows. It gnashed away with its broken draw, trying to gouge him with its teeth.

Emolga quickly jumped out to safety as Mark repeatedly slammed the butt of his pistol on the Shinx's face, it became a bloody mess from the abuse until its eyes were barely visible. Mark kept it at bay by hanging on to its neck with his free hand as he struggled to kill the Undead Flash Pokémon, "Get this thing off of me!" Mark cried.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu.

"Emolga!" Emolga cried.

The shiny sprite Sky Pokémon aimed her pistol at the Shinx. But her fright had locked her hands in place, she struggled to pull the trigger but couldn't do it. She couldn't handle pointing a gun this close to the trainer she loved.

Ash wasted no time, he chambered a new round, took aim, and fired. The .22 round went straight through the Shinx's head, barely clearing Mark's shoulder, before striking the wall of the nearby building. The Undead Flash Pokémon let out a dying moan as Mark slammed the deceased Pokémon to the pavement and stomped on its head, splattering its brains under the force of his boot.

"Nice shot," said Mark, "But that was a bit too close for comfort."

He leaned against the car and rested his hands on his knees as Emolga hopped back on his shoulder, Mark glanced at the blood on his sweater and shook his head, "A bit too close."

"Sorry." said Ash.

"Pikachu." Pikachu apologized with grief.

"Emolga!" the Sky Squirrel Pokémon burst into tears.

Mark got down to his knees and picked her up, "I'm fine, Emolga." he reassured her.

Emolga cuddled in his arms and sobbed, keeping the barrel of her gun pointed towards the air just in case it accidentally goes off, "Girl," Mark said, "I won't hold you accountable if you _accidentally _shot me. I'm wearing body armor, remember."

"Emo." she sobbed with a nod.

Mark holstered his pistol and Emolga climbed back on his shoulder, he then re-equipped his crossbow and pulled the string back, loading in a fresh bolt, "Seems okay," he said, "This crossbow was built quite strong."

Ash heard a moan from the distance, he looked down the road and saw a horde of Undead approaching. Their arms were outstretched with jaws lazily dropped open. They came after the group like blind lazy drunks, some stumbled on their feet and fell but quickly got back up. The others quickly picked up the pace with a few started jogging, flailing their arms and wailing like a banshee.

"Mark," said Ash, his eyes wide open from terror, "It's time to go."

"Damn," Mark grumped, "Gunshot must had attracted the Walkers. Screw them, let's go!"

Mark ran off as his Emolga barely hanged on, Ash quickly caught up to him as the Undead began to cover ground. They made a turn and found more ghoulish monsters blocking their way, this horde had a lot more dead than the last, "Crap," cried Mark, "Wrong way!"

The group spun around and ran down another street, only to find that path crowded with the Living Dead. Zombies packed shoulder to shoulder, slouching onward with arms stretched towards their food. Ash looked back the way they came and found the Undead had closed it off. The moans and groans of maybe a thousand Undead filled the air like the sound of rain. 3 groups of hordes were about to merge into a massive one, if that happened they would be rewarded dinner.

Ash held up the varmint rifle and shot at the Undead, scoring several headshots. But it did nothing to thin out the hordes, when Ash fired his last bullet the distance between the group and the Undead were quickly becoming shorter every second, "Pikachu!" screamed Pikachu in fright.

"Emolga!" cried Emolga as she fired her Ruger at the Undead, she killed a few of them before her gun starting clicking.

"We need to get to the high ground!" cried Mark as he fired his crossbow at a zombie, the bolt went straight between the eyes and killed it instantly.

Ash thought fast, he dart his eyes around and found a store not to far away. Two of its big windows had their glass busted out, replaced by several wooden boards that were nailed in from the inside out. A single public bench sat near the door, apparently untouched from the destruction.

Whoever had taken shelter there weren't present, as the front door was wide open. Almost like it was open for the group.

"Through the store!" cried Ash.

Mark turned to where he was looking, "Better than nothing."

Ash strapped the varmint rifle to his back, he rushed up to a bench just outside the store and grabbed one of its armrests, "Help me with this, Mark!"

Mark strapped his crossbow back on his back and quickly grabbed the other armrest, "Lift!" he ordered.

The duo lifted the bench and positioned it in front of the door. The Undead made it to the intersection and was now a stone's throw away, Ash hopped over the bench and jumped through the door as Mark joined him.

"You think that bench will hold them?" Ash asked.

"No," said Mark, "We need more crap in the way."

Ash did a quick scan across the entire store, all of the shelves were pressed up against the front. There was a small barricade of crates and more shelving blocking the exit in the back, no way through there. A body lay on the ground, appearing to be a man in his twenties. The skin had already rotted away, revealing putrid greenish skeletal muscles and bone underneath. One of its legs was violently amputated, possibly hacked off by an ax. From the way Ash could tell, this store won't provide a proper dramatic final stand. The front door itself sat on the other side of the store, nothing but a metal frame of its former self.

"Here!" said Mark.

Mark rushed up to one of the shelvings and pressed against it, Ash quickly gave him a helping hand. Their Pokémon held tightly to their shoulders as the duo used their combined strength to move the shelf, it slid across the tile floor as it scooted in front of the main entrance. They got back in time as the Undead began their siege, hammering away at the store's pre-built barricade with their bloody hands. Some zombies whacked at the barricade with bloody baseball bats and nail boards, Ash was too shocked to care about it at this point.

The shelf Ash and Mark pushed in place held up, the Undead tried to climb over it but they got stuck at the door frame. It would hold, but not forever.

"Ash," said Mark, "We need to make it up to the roof!"

He pointed to a nearby flight of stairs that was marked, EMPLOYEES ONLY, "These buildings are packed tightly together, we can use the roof tops and free run our way out of here!"

"Free run!?" Ash asked.

"Don't argue, just get your ass up to the roof!"

Mark ran up the stairs a second later, Ash looked back at the barricade and saw it was beginning to fail. Several boards had cracked and popped loose, the bench and shelves creaked and shift as the Undead pulled them apart. They would be in the store within moments. Ash turned towards the stairs and ran towards them-

Only to be caught by the ankle from something. He fell to the floor and Pikachu flopped in front of him, Ash turned to see what caught him and saw a bloody skeletal head, staring at him with red eyes. The zombie had a death grip on his leg. Just as the zombie was dragging Ash towards its skeletal mouth, he quickly pulled out his 9mm pistol and fired a single round into its skull. The round blew through the zombie's head, embedding itself into the far wall as the corpse released its grip.

Another board from the barricade cracked and clattered to the floor, the Undead's moans grew louder in response to the unsuppressed gunshot. Ash quickly got back up to his feet and scooped Pikachu in his arms, then ran up the stairs as another board fell.

When he got up to the roof, Mark was there waiting for him. He gazed out towards a sea of Undead, Ash couldn't believe his eyes. Why were there so many? _How _were there so many?

"Come on, Ash," said Mark, "Before they build an Undead ladder to get to us."

The duo approached the side of the building, there was a 2 meter gap to the next. He looked down below and saw a stretch of an alley, completely barren. It was a 3 meter fall, not to far down to break anything but . . .

Mark zipped past Ash and jumped, he cleared the gap and landed on his feet onto the roof of the other building. He turned towards Ash and gestured to follow him, "Come on, Ash!"

With the Undead upon them, Ash didn't feel like arguing. If Mark can clear the jump, so can he, right? Only one way to find out.

Ash took a step back and gave himself some distance, then charged. He jumped over the gap and cleared it. But his feet weren't ready, he stumbled and lost his balance. When he fell on his rear, Pikachu slipped from his shoulders and fell over the edge.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

Pikachu screamed at the top of his lungs, Ash peered over the edge in time to see Pikachu plop on the pavement below. The Mouse Pokémon quickly got up and shook it off, he didn't appear hurt, "Are you okay, buddy!" cried Ash.

Pikachu stood on his hind legs and looked straight up at him, his eyes were flooded to the brim with tears, "Pika!" he sobbed.

"Sh*t!" barked Mark.

The Undead quickly took notice and began to walk into the alley, their eyes locked onto Pikachu as they surrounded him from both sides. Pikachu stepped back and sparked his cheeks, "Pikachu!" he grunted.

Nothing, his electricity was still stunned from Tesla's knockout maneuver. With no electric-type moves to defend himself, all Pikachu can do was scream. Which attracted more of the Undead, his trainer felt helpless as he watched the hordes close in on his poor Pokémon.

"No!" cried Ash as he got on his feet.

He fired a few rounds down at the Undead as they walked passed him, scoring easy headshots. Ash killed a few Undead, buying Pikachu some time, but they kept coming. Mark pulled out his pistol and helped Ash out, he made several successful headshots but it helped little, other than making a small barricade of dead bodies, which the Undead had some difficulty getting over.

"What do we do!?" cried Ash.

"Emolga!" Emolga lit up.

The Sky Squirrel Pokémon jumped off Mark's shoulders and stood on the very edge of the building, he tossed his gun to Mark's feet then summoned up a special ability, "EMOLGA!"

A green ball of light appeared over Emolga's chest, it shotgun blast outward into 3 green plasma balls. These balls struck the brick wall of the previous store and blown it open, creating a cavity big enough for a car. Pikachu saw his chance and ran through it, the Undead were over his last position within the next second.

"Nice job using Hidden Power to carve a path for Pikachu!" cheered Mark.

Emolga blushed as she picked her gun back up, "Emolga." she cooed.

Pikachu came back up the stairs, cleared the gap, and made it back to the group. The Mouse Pokémon gave Emolga a hug and kissed her on the cheek, "Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon said in tears of joy.

"Come on," said Mark, "We gotta go!"

Several Undead strolled up the stairwell and turned towards the group, one of them stepped over the edge and fell down the alley below. Several more followed suit, lacking the mental capacity to even try to jump as they sank back to ground level. Ash didn't wanna stick around for them to build a body bridge, he scooped Pikachu up with his arms and ran off with Mark and his Emolga. Leaving behind an Undead horde, who weren't even disappointed that they lost their latest meal.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	22. Ch 22: Isn't That How It Goes?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXII_

_Isn't That How It Goes?_

After Ash and Mark gave the Undead horde the slip, they got down from the roofs and searched some more abandoned buildings for the next 20 minutes. They found a couple of canned goods, and a wood ax – apparently well used . . . as a weapon.

When they got back to the Pokémon Center, they approached the barricades that the survivors had put up. Despite the windows being covered with shutters, the survivors had boarded up the windows with wooden planks both inside and out. Just a week ago, HAM radio reports said about a gang laying waste to an outpost, not too far out from Carson. Not wanting to take any chances, Wally had the survivors board up the first-story windows and place temporary barriers on all emergency exits.

Natas took noticed of the duo and radioed Wally to open the gates, the shutters over the entrance raised up in a split second. Ash and Mark walked on through and saw yet another barricade before them. It was made out of metal desks, shelves, wooden boards, a vending machine, and razor wire. It stood just a meter tall and stretched from wall to wall across the room. Wally had the barricade built recently since the main entrance was the most vulnerable. If manned, it can hold off a horde of Undead for some time. But nobody was sure if it can hold off people.

There was a small notch that people can climb through to get to the other side of the barricade, yet it remained undetectable by foreigners. The notch was right up against the far right side of the barricade. Before Ash hopped over it, he looked towards the lobby and saw it was barren. Ever since the interior barricade was put up, nobody goes to the lobby anymore. Most activities now takes place on the 2nd floor and up, the 1st floor was soon dominated by the remnants of the Carson Police Department and the Pokémon Center's remaining security personnel. Even with all the armed guards, Ash still had trouble believing this place was safe for some reason, he couldn't put his finger on it.

After they got over the barricade, one of the cops checked Ash and Mark for bites. After a quick pat down, and limb check, they were given the green light. The duo said nothing as they head upstairs and walked into the waiting room – the same waiting room that Iris' Emolga accidentally shot herself – where their friends sat and chat amongst each other.

"How did it go out there?" Henry asked.

"We had a few close calls," said Mark, "But we handled it."

"Emolga." Emolga nodded.

"You found anything?" Misty asked.

"These."

Mark and Ash placed the .16 gauge shells, two cans of food, and the wood ax on the table. But not the cash they had found, Ash didn't wanna bother mentioning it. That was Mark's business for collecting now worthless currency, "All the usual places are cleaned down," Ash explained, "_Everything_ is cleaned out, all that's left are useless junk that we can use to make more barricades."

"What about the police station?" Max asked.

"We've skimmed passed it," said Mark, "But we didn't go in. The Undead infested that place, but it didn't appeared to be touched by looters. Yet."

Henry walked up and picked up the ax, "This might help with the barricade," he said, "Whoever used this used it well, the ax needs a new handle."

"What?"

"Look, Mark. The neck of this handle is cracked, it would break off if it takes anymore abuse."

Mark sighed, "We'll find something to fix the handle then."

"What kind of shotgun takes these shells?" Brock asked, pointing to the .16 gauge shells.

"Not the Remington," said Mark, "But Luke's double-barreled shotgun can."

"I'll give them to him," said Ash, "Since he has the only weapon here that can fire these shells."

"Go on right ahead," said Mark, "Maybe we get to see him use that shotgun for once."

Ash grabbed the shotgun shells and head upstairs. Mid-way down the hall, something felt odd about weapons. Guns in particular. Before the epidemic, Pokémon were required to get by life. The world was literally built for the use of Pokémon, humanity's sole companion. Now that world was gone, Pokémon and humankind were now equal.

It hurts, Ash couldn't lie to himself. He spent years traveling the world to become a Pokémon Master, now that journey ended when the dead started coming back. So much for salvation. So much for Pokémon. He didn't wanna cry, not in front of Pikachu or his friends. Ash became convinced that the Undead would never go away, only to become a permanent fact of life.

So how does Mark handle it? How did Tesla accepted it? How can anyone come to terms with this?

Ash just shook his head, he didn't wanna think about it anymore than he have to.

When he got to the roof, he saw Natas aimed a newly acquired .22 caliber bolt-action rifle at the Undead. He squeezed of a shot, the suppressor on the rifle silenced the round as something gushed into a splatter down below. Ash stared at the double-barreled shotgun, still slung onto his back. For some reason, the weapon creeps him out.

"Mr. Natas?" Ash gulped.

"Yeah?" he said nonchalantly, still staring down the scope looking for more zombies.

"We found some ammo for your shotgun."

Natas turned around, his thick beard that grew over the past few weeks made him look like a hunter. It had been a while since anyone had any shaving cream and a razor, not that Ash knew what it was like to shave. He fished into his pocket and pulled out the .16 gauge shells, "We found some shells for your gun, it ain't much but here."

Natas reached out and took the shells, "Buckshot and rifled slug," he said as he examined them, "I don't have that many shotgun shells, but this is good. Thanks."

The trader Beretta had bartered with Natas, he exchanged a clip of .44 caliber rounds for the bolt-action rifle, as the trader thought there wasn't much magnum rounds available on the island. Natas got the suppressor later in the day from scavenging, found it in a patrol car. The rifle was a bit rusty, Natas spent an hour cleaning and oiling it before he put it to good use. He put strict rules on the gun, saying that the gun must be clean before _and _after use. It resulted in Mark teaching Ash how to clean firearms, which he learned very well.

"Now, Ash," said Natas, "For the last time, it's either Luke, or just Natas."

"Sorry, sir." said Ash.

"Pikachu." Pikachu apologized.

"How can I blame you? Old habits never die. They're built-in, rooted into you so well that it would last a lifetime. And if the habit is kicked, it can easily grow back. Quite a real pain for some."

His gaze shifted towards Pikachu, Natas frowned when he saw his eyes, "How's your Mouse Pokémon?"

"He had a close call earlier." said Ash.

Natas sighed, he shoved the shotgun shells into his pocket and pulled the bolt open in his rifle. He sat it aside and pulled up a chair to sit in, "Kid," he said, "You're not going to be a kid forever, you know that?"

Ash nodded sheepishly, "Yes."

"Spare me the details on what happened to your Pikachu, it would had ended up the same way if things really gone out of control," Luke leaned forward, his eyes dug deep into Ash's gaze, "You know what I mean?"

Ash nodded in reply.

"I don't know about your past or know anything about the relationship between you and your Pokémon, but I can tell you that – from the route you're taking – that they're not going to make it."

"It can't wait any longer then." said Ash.

Natas relaxed back in his chair, "You're aware of this then, good. Then it should be easy. Mark and Tesla would be your best bet in surviving in this world, as they're quite stable. Your own mother, and long time friends, however, are not. I've hanged around long enough between you and your friends and I can tell that your relationship with them are going to end badly."

Ash started to argue, "But we-"

"This is the end of the world, Ash!" stated Natas, almost yelling, "It's dismantling years of hard work and history every second. You need to count on friends that you can rely on, completely start over with everything. Your mom and friends from back home and abroad won't be around for much longer, and neither will you, and me, and everyone else in this little Valhalla."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu added.

"They're going to baby you as long as you associate with them. You got to grow up, Ash, they may be your friends but they just look like your friends. The folks you knew long ago are long gone, replaced by a degenerated form that's suffering under the weight of this . . . abomination. Some may eventually come to their senses, others would not. If they don't, then you have to end the relationship. They all want the past back, and it _will _be denied from them."

"Did it happen to you?" Ash asked.

"It did, when I was 6. My own parents were long gone beforehand, and the rest of my family were never heard from again. The only solution, it seems, is to make new friends. And you do know that isn't so hard to do."

"Yes, it isn't."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded with a smile.

"If you wanna survive, then you gotta do a couple of things. And for crying out loud, teach that Pikachu and your other Pokémon how to use and maintain a gun – and have them use that gun to kill an Undead. If they hesitate, you discipline them on the spot. They may not going to like it, but its going to save their lives from here on out. And one other thing . . ."

Natas got up and reached out with a muscular hand, grabbing Pikachu by the tail. Pikachu squealed as he yanked him off Ash's shoulder, the trainer's eyes went big. Natas held him upside down and stuck up Pikachu's tail. The Mouse Pokémon tried to squirm free but couldn't break through Natas' strength. Before Ash could unleash a tantrum at him for mishandling his Pikachu, Natas spoke first, "This tail is like a rope to grab onto," he warned, "if you're ever going to take him back out there, there's a good chance that the Undead would grab him by the tail and _that_ would be the end of him."

"What!?" Ash asked, stunned by Natas' statement. He wanted to yell at him and fight back, but Natas had the authority and muscle. His big hands clamped down on Pikachu's bottom and skull, the Mouse Pokémon let out a small whimper from the pain.

"If your Pikachu is ever going to survive on your watch, then you must know when to make the ultimate sacrifice. If a horde of Walkers grabs him by the tail, you know what's going to happen."

"It's not going to happen!" Ash insisted.

Natas glared at him and grunted, "_If _it were to happen, then you must grab something sharp and amputate the tail. Look at the base of the tail, it's 3 times smaller than the tip. A single chop with an ax or hatchet will cut the thing off. It may cost your Pikachu a special move or two, but think about it – Is his tail really worth his life?"

Ash blinked, trying to process his thoughts, "I . . . I guess not."

"If it came down to Tesla, would you save him this way?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"Course you don't. But the answer will come to you ifit _were_ to happen to a Pokémon with a long tail."

Natas turned Pikachu right-side up and perched him back on Ash's shoulder, he step back and sat down, "I recommend you get onto firearms training right away, Ash. Tesla and Mark insists on it."

"Okay, Luke," said Ash, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, kid."

Natas picked up his suppressed .22 rifle and walked back up and re-took his position at the roof's edge, he aimed towards the ground let another round fly, another bloody splatter sounded from the _put _of the bullet. Ash quietly turned around and head back inside, once he shut the door behind him he walked down the stairs until he got to the bottom.

"Well that was unexpected." he thought out loud.

Pikachu let out a small whine, Ash held him up and saw him sucking in his mouth, tears were beginning for form in his eyes and were about to release at any minute, "You okay, Pikachu?"

The Mouse Pokémon squeezed his eyes shut, forcing tears down his red cheeks, "Pika Pika Pika . . . Chu Chuuu!"

Pikachu cried like a 2 year old child. Ash held him in his arms and Pikachu snuggled into his chest, sobbing into his clothes. Ash sighed. His buddy broke down, again. His trainer didn't know what to do, but pet the back of Pikachu's head and whisper calming words into his ear. He had seen Pikachu crack before, but not repeatedly. It was a cycle looping into itself. There had to be a way to break that cycle.

Ash took him back to the living quarters, he sat down on his bed and wrapped a blanket around his Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon continued to cry for the next few minutes until his tears dried out. He whimpered under his breath, staring into Ash's eyes as the trainer tried his best not to cry.

"He slipped back into remission?"

Ash looked up and saw Mark approached, his Emolga tucked on his shoulder, "Yeah," said Ash, "Probably from the close call earlier."

Mark sat on the bed next to Ash and gazed at Pikachu, "I think I know what might help him."

"You do?" Ash asked.

"Not really, but an idea's better than nothing."

"Well, what do you have in mind?"

Mark grinned, "Observe."

He stuck his fingers into his mouth and let out a loud whistle, within moments Ash heard the scampering of little feet sliding against the tile floor. Mark's Pikachu shot through the door, her tongue stuck out as a smile stretched across her face. She tried to make a turn, but slid on the tile floor, slamming into a bed. It didn't fazed her, she charged up towards Mark and hopped on his lap. Before she could proceed to lick his face, Mark grabbed her and held her towards Ash's Pikachu, "Hey, Pikachu," said Mark, "Here's someone to keep you company."

Ash's Pikachu shift his eyes towards his female counterpart, she gave him a good lick on the tip of his nose. Mark's Pikachu then broke free, Ash lost his grip on his Pikachu and he dropped onto his lap. The female Pikachu jumped on top of her male counterpart and licked his face raw, he tried to push her back but she was persistent. It wasn't long until Ash's Pikachu cracked a smile and laughed, "Pikachu!" he said.

"Pika!" Mark's Pikachu squealed, and he tried to get herself over his-

"Okay, Pikachu," said Mark, he pulled his Pikachu off of Ash's before she could get into the position, "That's enough."

"Pikachu!" she pouted, flapping her arms to vent her frustration.

Ash thought for a moment, hearing out the lessons of Tesla's and Natas' words, _Train your Pokémon on how to use a gun_.

"Hey, Mark," said Ash, "Where's Tesla?"

"I think he's sleeping somewhere," said Mark, "Or busy being paranoid about the barricades, why?"

"Can you help me train my Pokémon on how to use a gun?" Ash asked.

"Sure," said Mark, "What kind of firearm by the way, handgun, rifle, shotgun?"

"Everything."

Mark grinned, "I know just the spot on where we could practice. Even if we call up an entire horde of Walkers, we wouldn't have to worry about them getting to us. Mobility would always be on our side."

"Where is this spot?" Ash asked.

"West of here. Not too far away that the walk would be long, but not too close where we put our safe zone at risk. I saw it during our first scavenging tour in Carson. Though we may have to modify the area a bit for easy access, it's going to be a great sniping spot. I'm telling you, we have visibility and enough elbow room that could stretch an entire savanna!"

"I'm taking your word for it, Mark." said Ash.

"Okay then, now let's go find that old fart of a Pikachu."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	23. Ch 23: Familiar

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXIII_

_Familiar_

Sure enough Tesla was sleeping, but he was awake when the duo found him. When Ash told him about his plan, the old Pikachu grinned, showing his rotten teeth. After checking there weren't any Undead around, Mark began to load some guns and ammo into the back of his pickup truck as Ash rounded up his Pokémon.

He found them gathered in a room, chatting amongst themselves. They weren't too happy, they were depressed and hungry like all the other Pokémon. As expected, they weren't too thrilled on what Ash had planned for them, but they agreed without resistance. They all got off their bums and head out to the pickup truck. Mark sat on the roof of his truck, gripping the Remington tightly in his hands as he waits for them, "Hold on, Mark," said Ash, "I'm going to get my crowbar, that catwalk plan of yours may need it."

"Sure," said Mark, "Take your time, the Walkers are too slow for us to run."

Ash turned to his Pikachu, "Would you stay in the truck and keep them company?"

Pikachu slowly shook his head no, "P."

Ash plucked Pikachu off his shoulder and handed him to Mark, "Have Emolga play with him, this should just be a second."

"Kay." he replied.

"Emolga." Mark's Emolga cheered as she jumped on Pikachu and gave him a big hug. Ash could feel his Mouse Pokémon stare at him as he head back inside. He retrieved his crowbar and a few clips of 9mm ammo, then walked into the bathroom.

He gazed at himself in the mirror and sighed, Ash couldn't recognize himself. Now wearing a wilderness camouflaged hat, a black t-shirt, a tan tactical vest, an olive-green cargo pants, and black combat boots, he looked more than a hunter than a Pokémon trainer. His eyes and cheeks sunk in from hunger and stress, Ash wondered if it was a good idea to train them at this time.

No idea seemed good anymore. Back then, there might be considerations but now there was no room for argument. It had to be done, either if he was ready or not. Ash held up his crowbar and stared at it for a moment, how many skulls had the claw-end sank into?

This tool seemed more valuable than his Pokédex, the one he used during his Unova days. Something stirred in his mind, and a lobe throbbed.

A flashback struck him hard, it was in a town he couldn't remember. Yes, the Pokémon Resistance Army, or PRA, had placed him number 1 in his hit-list. The PRA were a group of Pokémon who festered in the darkness of human nature, all thanks to Team Rocket. They had escaped from the organization long ago and band together with one of Tesla's old friends, that Scrafty with the shaking left arm.

This Scrafty, what was his name? Nobark? He believed that all Pokémon should be free and treated as equals like humankind. However, he viewed the Pokémon were _slaves _and mankind was the _master race_. It wasn't too hard for Ash to understand what he meant, since he was a Pokémon trainer, so used to having his own Pokémon under his control. But he doesn't beat his Pokémon, or punish them harshly, he cared for them as friends and loved them with all his heart.

He couldn't understand what went through the Scrafty's mind, but he did know his fate. He was laid to rest – on this Island – with the rest of Irvin's diseased Pokémon. Ash had some sympathy for him, he wondered if there was any chance to help him. But no, Irvin's Scrafty was too far gone with insanity. He couldn't be reasoned, or helped, he had to be put down . . .

Ash shook the thought from his head, time to get back on track.

He head back outside and saw his Pokémon sitting in the back of the pickup, Mark didn't move a bit, he just remain seated on the roof until he strolled up, "Okay," said Ash, "Let's go."

"Finally." said Mark.

Ash hopped into the passenger-side seat as his Pikachu sat on his lap, Mark climbed into the driver's seat and started up the engine. It came to life without a sound, Mark put the pickup truck to gear then pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.

The drive through Carson was quiet, on most days it was. The zombie hordes that Ash and Mark seen earlier were nowhere in sight, either they had broken up or wondered out of town. Or maybe they were still where they left them. Whatever the case, Carson was barren from all Undead and living beings once more.

"Look at all the boarded up stores," Mark noted, "The barricades look like they had sprung up overnight."

A lot of the stores were boarded up, some were covered with so much wood that Ash couldn't see through the gaps. Ash went through this area many times, and every time a barren store was boarded up at random. Most of the stores were boarded up from the outside, so the survivors had a lot of time on their hands and the nerve to be out. A few of the barricaded stores had dried blood smeared on them, others were busted in. Strange. If there were so many barricaded safehouses, why were they abandoned?

"A lot of places to hide around here," Ash complimented, "You think there's anyone alive behind those barricades?"

Mark shrugged, "Had to be, those barricades looked like they were made for a permanent settlement. You can tell by the sheer sturdiness of the barricades."

Ash heard a tap on the back window, he turned and saw it was Tesla. The trainer opened up the window and asked, "Anything wrong?"

"I just saw some survivors," said Tesla, "They're hiding behind one of the barricades, and they had a curious look in their eyes."

"Should we go back and check to see if they're okay?" Mark asked, his eyes transfixed on the road in front of him.

"Emolga Emolga?" Emolga asked.

"Don't bother," Tesla answered, "We best leave them alone. Besides, I think those faces were familiar. Wherever you're going, Mark, can you take a few random turns along the way? Just in case we're being followed and they might pinpoint our destination."

"I wasn't taking the quickest route, but I'll make a few turns."

"Thanks."

**. . .**

"Did they see us?" Meowth asked.

James lowered his head and sighed in relief, "I don't think so, they're not coming back."

Within the darkness of the barricaded store, the Team Rocket trio sat in hiding. Their clothes were more tan than white, covered with a month's worth of grime. Struggling to stay warm from Faraday Island's night cycle, they burned whatever they could. Books, paper, wooden boards that were too rotten to be used for barricade, even their own socks. They managed to scrounge up some canned good from the stores, but they had to compete with the survivors at the Pokémon Center for them.

So far they were beginning to win, but only had enough food to last for 2 days. Water wasn't a problem, the plumping pipes still had fresh drinking water in them. And for sanitation, they simply dumped their waste down the storm drain outside when the Undead wasn't around. With the storm drains no longer being maintained, the sewage became stagnant, and the smell made its way up to the road above for all to smell.

They had been living like this for weeks, tending to their real and imagined fears. They thought about loved ones back home, thought about their Pokémon, and imagined all the horrible things that might had happened to them.

James thought about his grandparents and Chimecho, what were the Undead doing to them? What was happening to his parents? What about Growlie? What was going on with Mime Jr. and his other Pokémon, supposed to be kept safe by trusted folks back at HQ? He easily imagined them being eaten alive by the marauding hordes of Undead, it caused tears to trail down his eyes. Jessie had no family to miss, but she did miss some Pokémon of hers.

Wobbuffet was a real nuisance, but she missed his random, and often inappropriate, introductions. Team Rocket headquarters was tucked away, safe from harm. Could the Undead smell it out and . . . Oh, hopefully that won't happen.

Meowth missed home in Hollywood, and also missed Meowzie a little bit. Probably they were now gone, torn up by the Undead. Not that he cared but . . . some things were hard to let go.

"What did you say?" Meowth asked.

Jessie raised an eyebrow, "Say what?"

"Something about the truck that past outside?"

James stood up and stretched his arms, "This Island has more firearms than people _and _Pokémon, we might get shot."

Meowth raised a finger, "Tisk tisk. What could be more worse than the Walking Dead, a yokel with a gun?"

James growled, "All we have for weapons is a nail board and a lead pipe, we have a few .12 gauge shotgun shells but not the gun itself!"

"Look, James. We either do something or sit here and wallow in our own muck like a Tepig in a mud puddle. What's your choice?"

"We have the element of surprise," Jessie noted, "We can take them down when they have their guard down. Chances are they won't have their guns out and ready since the noise would attract the Undead. If we're lucky, we could get their guns."

James glared at her for a second, "There's two people in that car, but I did see several Pokémon in the back. Special attacks, plus bullets, equals a blast off to the moon _so _high – we might never come back down!"

A hand raked against the barricade from the outside, followed by a tired moan. The trio turned towards the barricade and saw several Undead pressing their faces up against the boards, sticking their fingers through the gaps to get a hold of potential morsel. James turned back to the group, his eyes wide open.

"Okay, let's do it."

**. . .**

Pikachu sat on the roof of the pickup truck as Mark showed his trainer the destination. The other Pokémon stayed in the back, Tesla kept a lookout for potential danger. Ever since he claimed he saw a survivor, he was more paranoid than ever before.

"So what do you think?" Mark asked Ash.

The spot was a building part of the cluster of small business on the street, sitting at the edge of the commercial sector of Carson. Three sides of this building were surrounded by other abandoned stores and deserted streets. The forth side was a savanna, stretching probably a kilometer or so. Beyond that was dense vegetation of trees, seemingly native only to the Island. This was the spot Mark picked out where they could practice firearm training. An entire row of stores down one end, a vast field of grass at the other, and more streets and commercial stores on the other sides.

"We'll need to build catwalks across the gaps of the buildings," said Ash, "The roof isn't long enough, we need more space."

"How big you want the range?" Mark asked.

"At least 8 to 10 meters, that should be long enough."

"Okay, first we'll start boarding up some of the windows of these stores so the Walkers won't get in. Next we'll cover the gaps between these two buildings with plywood and nail them down, then we'll add in catwalks across the rest of these buildings so we can escape if we have company."

"What about your truck, Mark?"

"We'll park it up against the building. If the Walkers come in by the hordes, I'll jump down and get behind the wheel, then pull up where there isn't any Walkers so you and your Pokémon can come down and we'll fish tail out of here."

"What if we're surrounded on all sides?"

"Then that's what the catwalks are for, we'll take the path of least resistance and stick to the truck plan. Though it would require patience and some bullets though, and a bit of a loop around the block."

Mark and Ash walked into the store and checked the inside, Pikachu watched nervously as they peaked under the counters and opened a few doors, "Okay," Ash called out, "It's clear, head up to the roof through those stairs right there."

Pikachu did what he was told without question, he and the other Pokémon got out of the truck and scampered into the store, careful not to step on broken glass as they made their way up the stairs to the roof. Scraggy looked off down Carson as Pignite looked down the savanna, Snivy sat down on a cinderblock and folded her arms – getting herself into her comfortable position. Oshawott and Emolga peered over the edge of the building, curiously watching the trainers get to work.

Mark brought the truck up to the building. Once he parked it, he got out of the truck, carrying a toolbox. He sat it down and opened it up, then pulled out a hammer, "Here, Ash." he said, tossing the tool to him.

Ash caught it mid-air with one hand in ease, "How much nails do you have?"

"Several boxes of galvanized steel nails," said Mark, "These are 4cm long with a wide enough head, the same kind people use for construction and such. They'll keep a barricade up without any problems."

Mark pulled out another hammer from the toolbox and grabbed a box of nails, "Let's get to work."

There were a lot of wooden boards and plywood laying around at the inside of some of these buildings, Mark and Ash simply grabbed them and cut them down to size with the bow saw. Ash sawed the boards to length and Mark nailed them over the massive windows. The banging was loud, cracking across the town with every strike. Tesla head back down to the truck and fetched the .22 rifle, along with a box of ammunition.

It was odd the way he carried the rifle, it was too big for him – he wobbled as he struggled to hold the guns in his tiny hands, "You guys need help?" Tesla asked.

"Nope," said Mark as he hammered away at the nails, "We're fine, just keep an eye out for Walkers."

"Will do."

Tesla got back on the roof and sat the box of ammo down, Pikachu looked around and still didn't see any Undead yet. He got a feeling they were already coming.

Within minutes of going back and forth within the store and up on the roof to fetch wooden boards, The space where there was once a massive window was boarded up, each board somewhat perfectly horizontal and the gaps thin enough to block human hands. The barricade was finished just in time, as several Undead came walking down the street, attracted to all the noise the trainers were making.

"Bring the toolbox and guns up there," said Mark, "I'll put the finishing touches to our barricade."

"Will do." said Ash.

Pikachu heard Mark began shifting shelves into position as Ash grabbed the toolbox, the Mouse Pokémon watch the Undead lurched forward, becoming more and more closer. Ash picked up the pace and brought up the shotgun and Emolga's Ruger, along with the ammunition for all of their guns. Moments later, Mark came up with ease and shut the door behind him, "That should hold the Undead for the meantime," he said, "Now let's work on building these bridges."

They didn't bother cutting the plywood down in size, it was big enough. The duo placed wooden boards a meter apart over the gap to the next building and hammered them in place, then they placed the plywood over them and hammered them down as well. This doubled the useable space, making it long enough for a good firing range.

When they got to work building small catwalks across the other buildings, the Undead had bolstered in numbers. First there was 4 or 7, now it was 20 or 30. That number was rising, and their moans and snarls and alien wails were growing louder. It frightened Pikachu to the core, he wondered if the store was high enough to keep out of reach of the Undead.

"Oshawott." said Oshawott. _There's so many._

"Pika." Pikachu replied. _I know._

"Not that many guys," Tesla spoke as he load a clip into the .22 rifle, then cocked it, "This is nothing, they'll just circle us like sharks but won't try to claw their way up here. They know they can't get to us, it's a waiting game you see. A few of them will wonder off, but the rest will keep their distance. Which would be perfect once we start taking off their domes."

When the trainers were finished, Mark looked out towards the savanna and saw the stragglers shuffle their way towards them. He grinned as he pulled out his 9mm pistol and angled the barrel towards the sky, "This is going to be fun."

"What's fun about it?" Ash asked.

"We can come up with many ways to euthanize the Walkers, the possibilities are endless!"

Ash raised an eyebrow, "I don't share your optimism."

Mark frowned, "Well, dealing with the Undead is always a serious business."

He spun the 9mm in his hands and hand it to Ash, "These are your Pokémon, its all on you."

Tesla picked up the .22 Ruger and pulled out the magazine, he went through the .22 caliber ammo box and load the short rounds into the Ruger's magazine. He placed a round in the chamber then sealed it, then slip the magazine back in. Tesla thumbed the safety back on and handed it to Emolga, who gladly took it. She checked her sights as she aimed at a zombie, making tiny adjustments as she focused in. Pikachu saw how comfortable she was with a firearm. How long did it took her to get used to the feel?

"You sure its too big for them?" Ash asked as he examined the gun.

"Course it is," said Tesla, "That's why they must use two hands, not sling it around with one hand like Mark in cowboy mode."

Tesla turned to Pikachu, the century old Mouse Pokémon's eyes showed authority. Pikachu felt a chill up his spine, that look Tesla had was the look he gave to anybody who wasn't friendly. But he does that to everybody, it was a force of habit.

"Pikachu," said Tesla, "You go first."

Pikachu gulped, he felt the sweat trail down the back of his neck as a few strands of fur stood on edge. The cool 17 degree Centigrade air did little to cool down his nerves. Ash got on his knees and showed the side view of the gun, "In order to use a gun," he explained, "You have to check for ammo, unless you already know there's ammo in the magazine."

"Pika." Pikachu understood as he nod his head. _Uh-huh._

"To chamber a round, you have to grab the slide and pull it back," Ash grabbed the slide and clicked it back, chambering a fresh round, "All firearms have a safety switch to prevent an accidental discharge, most guns usually have a green and red dot indicator on the switch."

Ash showed Pikachu the safety switch, the Mouse Pokémon took note of the tiny colors. The switch was over the green one, "Green means safe," his trainer explained, "Red means dead. Make sure the safety is on at all times, and don't point the gun – _even _when it is unloaded – at anyone, unless you're intent on harming them."

He took Pikachu's hands and placed the grip of the 9mm pistol into them, "Flick the safety off before you fire. If you need to eject the magazine, push that button there."

Pikachu pressed the button and the magazine slid out, he caught it with the palm of his hand and examined it carefully. 16 rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber. The Mouse Pokémon started to feel himself relax, but the training session was far from over.

Ash turned Pikachu around and he gazed out towards a random formation of Undead. Below them, the zombies walked as individuals. Not as a group. They groaned as bits of flesh hanged loose from their bones, their skins peeling off, their clothes decaying away, and everything else was sinking in from dehydration. They were a bitter sight to look at, Pikachu felt his heart ache from it all.

"Take aim," Ash spoke calmly, "Don't lock your elbows, align your sights at the Undead. You know where to aim."

Pikachu raised the gun, struggling to keep it gripped in his hands. He chose a close zombie, wandering around in the street. The Mouse Pokémon centered the sights of the gun at the Undead's head, just above the eyebrows. The gun shook in his hands, he struggled to put his finger on the trigger.

"Hold your breath for better accuracy," said Tesla, "Kneeling or going prone will stabilize your aim more."

Pikachu held his breath and steadied his aim, he felt everybody's eyes stare at his back. Just waiting for him to pull the trigger. His target shift around and faced him, Pikachu aimed between its red eyes and fired.

A crack went off as the gun jumped in his hands, Pikachu almost dropped the firearm from the surprise. The round struck the Undead square center into the skull, it fell backwards and hit the pavement. Pikachu lowered the gun and sighed in relief, but there was still more to do.

"Right between the eyes," said Tesla, "Clean as a fiddle. Heck, even the Undead are taking notice of your marksmanship."

The Undead turned towards the group. Their moans increased in volume, riled up by the gunshot. They limped towards the Living with dropped jaws, their arms reaching high towards them, "Steady your aim and take a few more of them out." said Mark.

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded. _Okay._

Pikachu raised the gun again and held his breath, he fired a few more shots. Some rounds missed, others hit the Undead but not in the right place, some were dead on and the Undead dropped in a puff of blackish mist. Out of the 17 rounds, Pikachu missed 4 shots, made direct hits with 5 shots, and scored killing headshots with 8. His accuracy hovered around 50%.

The Mouse Pokémon ejected the magazine and flipped the safety back on, then handed the gun back to Ash, "You did good, Pikachu." he praised.

"Pikachu." said Pikachu nonchalantly. _Thank you_.

Pikachu sat back and watched as his friends get a turn with the gun, what they soon discovered was their hands weren't quite adaptable with firearms. Snivy and Scraggy had some luck though, their hands had more slender digits to grip the gun properly. Pignite and Oshawott had a more difficult time, they either had stubby hands or have no fingers at all. But already, Pikachu can see the differences in their handling.

Pignite had a more steady aim, and was able to hit the Undead with ease. Oshawott rapid-fire the gun, scoring direct hits on the Undead but scoring few headshots. Snivy discovered that if she steadied the gun with a vine wrapped around the handle, that increased her accuracy and reduced the recoil significantly. With her vines snaking under her armpits and wrapping the handle as her hands gripped over them, Snivy made more headshots than the others.

Tesla then taught them how to use the .22 varmint rifle. They had more success with the rifle than the gun, usually when they tried firing it prone. Ash's Pokémon encountered the same problems as with handling the handgun, but solved it with the same tactics as before. Once again, Snivy used Vine Whip to steady the gun when she fired it.

Then things got serious when they start to use the .12 gauge Remington 870. They quickly learned that every time they fired the gun, the butt of the shotgun kicked back into their shoulder. Oshawott and Scraggy complained, but Snivy and Pignite didn't mind. Pignite took a particular liking to the shotgun, and scored better headshots from longer ranges than his friends.

After being taught the basics of firearms, there were corpses laying all over the street. More Undead began walking in and taking notice of the group, somehow there were more Undead than last time, even though they killed some of them from the roof of this building.

"I think we have to wrap this up, Ash," said Mark, "The Undead are getting riled up."

Pikachu heard something from behind, he turned around and saw a paint can roll from behind an air conditioning unit. That triggered his instincts, "Pikachu!" he cried. _Hey guys!_

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash calmly asked.

Pikachu pointed towards the AC unit, then everyone heard something stir behind it. Tesla handed Ash the .22 rifle as Mark picked up the shotgun, "Looks like we got company." said Mark, cocking the Remington.

The trainers quietly reloaded the guns before making their advance, they stepped over the gap they covered and approached the AC. They trained their aim at the corner, ready to open fire. Emolga had her Ruger drawn as Tesla had the 9mm out and ready, the Pokémon remained where they were and held their breath.

Ash and Mark stepped around the AC, and almost jumped back from what they found.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	24. Ch 24: Conditioned Response

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXIV_

_Conditioned Response_

"Don't shoot!" James cried as he stood up.

"Careful where you aim those, bub!" snarled Meowth, more paranoid than scared.

Ash's eyes went big, he gripped the varmint rifle and trained the barrel towards James, "Team Rocket?" he asked.

"Y- Yeah." stammered Jessie.

Mark gave Ash a look, "Ash, you know these people?"

Ash snort, "I know them so well I can fill a textbook with my knowledge."

"It's all James' idea," Meowth blurted out, "He wanted to take cover here when the dead started walking, me and Jessie have no intentions here!"

"It was _your _idea to follow them when they drove by!" James yelled.

"I didn't know it was Ash! . . . wait a second," he turned his attention back to Ash, "Where are the other twerps, what happened to them?"

"They're at a safe place," said Ash, "With more _twerps_."

Tesla ran up and saw Team Rocket, he had his pistol trained up in the air but he was shaking it hard. Ash could tell the old Pikachu wanted to shoot them, or maybe it was an old habit of his. He had a hatred for Team Rocket, they took his family and his parents. Whatever was going through his mind, he wanted personal payback. Even though he was once a member himself, "Tesla," said Ash calmly, "Put the gun down, with the safety turned on."

The old Pikachu gave him a look, "Concerned of my mental health, are you? Well, I can't argue with you about this."

Tesla flipped the safety on and tossed the gun towards Ash, he caught it and gave it back to Mark, holstering it in his holster. They retrained their guns at Team Rocket, whose anxiety was about to take off.

"I'm not going to ask you why are you doing here," said Ash, "Because that would be the same reason I am, those Undead that walked the streets. But I'm going to ask you this: What are you guys up to?"

"Scavenging for food and water," said Jessie, "Hopping from store to store to evade the Undead."

"So you guys were the ones boarding up all the stores?" Mark asked.

"Yes." James nod his head.

Mark stepped back and withdrew the shotgun, "Ash, I have nothing against the criminal organization, but you do. Should we bring them back to the outpost or we let them go?"

"Your choice, Ash," said Tesla, "I used to be a member myself, they can help us access the Team Rocket caches in Faraday Island."

"Caches?" James asked.

"I know the location of these caches, but these caches have biometric locks on them. They work on live satellite feed, any Team Rocket member might unlock them. Even when the world had gone insane."

Ash thought for a moment and listened to the moans of the Undead, their snarling and groaning was loud and clear. It only took a few seconds for Ash to decide, "Okay, let's bring them back to the outpost."

Mark placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, "If you want to shoot them, Ash, be my guest. I won't mention it to anybody if it happens."

"Same for me," said Tesla, "Let's get outta here."

**. . .**

Pikachu watched as Ash and Mark had Team Rocket march in front of them. The trio walked with their hands on their heads, though it wasn't necessary since neither of the trainer's guns were aimed at them. Mark did his thing. He jumped down onto the back of his truck and quickly got into the driver's seat, just as the Undead took noticed he pulled out and drove around. He pulled up at another part of the street and parked the vehicle. Pikachu helped the other Pokémon collect the ammo and tool boxes, then took them downstairs as Ash covered them.

Team Rocket stood by and watched, Jessie and James held their nail board and lead pipe in a defensive position as Meowth had his claws out and ready. Though they didn't look capable of combating the Undead, the blood on their melee weapons – with the exception of mouth – said otherwise.

Once the equipment was back in the trunk, the humans and Pokémon regrouped and hopped into the back of the truck. The Undead were right behind them, gaping jaws hiss for the taste of blood. Pikachu didn't feel comfortable sitting next to Meowth in the tight trunk, when the talking Scratch Cat Pokémon looked him Pikachu gave him a growl. But he wasn't paying attention, he looked off to the side and pointed out a finger, "Look out!"

Ash spun around and a Undead approached the truck, its decaying arms were outstretched to their limit. The trainer picked up his crowbar and smashed its claw into the Undead's skull with a single blow. When he dislodged the crowbar, bits of brain and bone were pulled out, splattering all over the road as the Undead dropped.

"We'll never get used to this." James shook his head.

Ash sat down and sat his crowbar aside, then pulled out his 9mm. The pickup truck lurched forward and drove off, leaving a small gathering army of Undead behind.

"Sit tight," Mark called out through the open back window, "I'm taking a new route back to the safe zone."

"Emolga." Emolga cooed.

The Sky Squirrel Pokémon crawled towards the back window and climbed into the cab, "Hey there, girl." Mark muttered to her, Emolga began cooing soft words, probably getting her ears scratched.

Team Rocket sat with their heads down, either they were relieved that they're now getting permanent shelter or thinking that their ordeal was just beginning. Ash held the gun tight in his hands. Pikachu stared at it for a moment, wondering if he was going to use it. The Mouse Pokémon looked at the other Pokémon and saw they were relaxed, almost like Snivy. Tesla had an eye trained on Team Rocket, Meowth in particular.

"So how did you get on this island, Team Rocket?" Ash asked.

"By plane," said James, "We, uh . . . commandeered it when the first Undead started coming back to life. We were at a major city planning our next devious plan, but it had to be scraped."

"If it ever came to life, would you wish I was there to stop you?"

Jessie gave Ash a look, "Dealing with each other is a lot better than dealing with zombies, we barely got out of the city alive."

"What city was it?" Ash asked.

"Don't know," said James, "We were only there for 14 hours, so we didn't get the time to know the place. Around 7AM on Day one, we saw looting and rioting in the streets. It looked like civil unrest on a conventional level, riot police called in and stuff. But there were Undead – loads of them – eating the bodies of people and Pokémon. We were all caught in the middle, but we were near the airport. Had I not spotted that small airplane, we would had been dead."

"What happened to Dr. Zager?" Ash asked.

"No clue where he went." Meowth muttered.

**. . .**

"What the crap!?" Officer Wally blurted when Ash and Mark came walking in with new survivors.

Team Rocket, with their hands on their heads, stepped forward near the barricade. Mark took the .22 varmint rifle from Ash and handed it to Henry, along with the .16 gauge Remington. He carried the guns back upstairs as Wally began a rant, "We don't have much food here guys, it won't make our situation any better if you bring in more mouths to feed!"

"They have 2 days worth of food on them!" Mark argued.

"For them, at least. But for all of us, that's enough for a single dinner!"

Wally turned towards the trio and glared at them, "Why do you have your hands on your head?"

Team Rocket shot their arms down and stiffen like soldiers, "Long story." James answered.

Several of Ash's friends came downstairs and saw the situation. They were either confused or surprised, looking on as Ash began to speak, "I'm the one who decided to bring them here, that makes ME responsible!"

"No one's responsible for the children to starve!"

"Team Rocket!" Max blurted out from the corner of the room, causing Meowth to jump.

Wally spun around and shot a finger at the gathering crowd, "Stay out of this, all of you!"

"Look," said Jessie, "We searched every store, apartment, office, and house in Carson. They're plucked clean from everything they had, we had to strip some buildings to their frames to get resources."

"Which we used to board up the stores." said Meowth.

"Oh great," Wally snorted, "Another talking Pokémon, just great."

"Officer," James pleaded, "We don't want any trouble here."

"The f*ck you don't! You know what!? How about we all cook and eat our own Pokémon, so we won't have to eat each other when we starve to death!"

Wally marched off into the next room, grumbling under his breath. With the situation over, Mark closed the entrance shutters and approached Team Rocket, "Sorry about all that, we're all on edge here."

"What's going on?" James asked.

"We're running low on food. The multivitamin supplements the Pokémon Center has is keeping us going at the moment, but without any calories . . ."

"We start eating each other?" Tesla added.

Mark groaned, "Tesla!"

"I've been through this situation before, Mark. I can already tell this will end in cannibalism."

"What are you here for, Team Rocket!" Misty blurted out in sudden rage.

"We're trying to survive this nightmare," Jessie barked, "What do you expect!?"

"Looks like y'all know each other." Mark noted.

"The history isn't good, Mark." said Ash.

"Look, save the stories. I don't wanna hear it," Mark turned to Team Rocket with a serious look, "I don't know who you guys are, or what you've done. But here this: If you are accused of any wrongdoing, the police here will shoot you dead. And if you turn, they'll shoot you again. That almost happened a few times in the past few weeks, but this Pokémon Center had to put down several Pokémon and people. You know what we found out about the Undead?"

Team Rocket leaned forward with curiosity, "What you found?"

"It's not the bite that makes you turn. You become an Undead, no matter how you die. If your death doesn't involve the destruction of the brain, you turn within minutes or even seconds. Iris' Emolga got shot a few weeks back, the bullet blew through her belly and took out her back. When she turned . . . ugh, it was such a mess."

"I smashed her head in," added Tesla, "With a fire ax."

Mark held out his hand, "Name's Mark Kissinger, welcome to the Island of the Dead."

James shook his hand, "You from here?"

"Born and raised, like the other locals. I know about the criminal organization you work for, but not your personal actions. A famous resident on this island happened to be a Team Rocket member himself, though he had past 20 years back, before I was born."

"Irvin," said Tesla, "Irvin Westinghouse, he was my trainer. We only signed up part-time so we can use the organization to get a load of assault rifles, you have to work for the military or law enforcement to get a hold of fully-automatic rifles."

Tesla held his head down and frowned for a moment, Ash noticed how he went from passive to sad in a moment. What was wrong with him?

"You alright, Tesla?" Meowth asked.

The old Pikachu shot up and sighed, "Just a personal problem of mine, me and Irvin were close."

James and Jessie raised an eyebrow, "You know him?"

"I heard rumors and such."

The look in his eyes showed he was hiding something, but Ash didn't feel like caring anymore. Instead, he just climbed over the barricade and passed his friends, letting Mark and Tesla chat up Team Rocket. Just as he was climbing the stairs, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw it was May, the dark circles under her eyes showed the strain she was in.

"Yeah?" Ash asked.

"You have a moment, Ash?" May asked.

"Sure."

May turned to Max, who was still staring at Team Rocket, "Max, come with me for a moment."

"Okay, sis." Max replied.

**. . .**

May and Max led Ash to an unused room on the 2nd floor. It was barren, stripped of all décor and furniture. All that was left were blank walls and a window that overlooked the horrors of the outside world.

When the door closed behind them, May gave Ash a big hug, "What's wrong, May?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"I don't have any hope left, Ash," May sobbed, "And neither does Max."

"Not very many of us have hope left," said Ash, "I'm not going to lie to you, Pikachu already lost hope."

"I had a dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, and it blew up in my face. It blew up in yours, too. Next thing I realized my, my parents-" May glanced at Max as he hugged her side, "Our parents, I mean . . . They're gone. We might never be able to see them again. At least you have your mom here with you, do you know what it feels like not to have any parents to lose?"

Ash approached the window, he saw several Undead below eating a recently butchered kill. They tore shreds of flesh with their teeth and ate the limbs like corn on the cob. Somehow, it no longer seem disturbing, watching the dead feed themselves.

"Honestly," he said as he stared out the window, "I don't feel much."

"I don't understand." said May.

Ash turned and made eye contact, "During the past month, Dawn, her Piplup, Henry's Raichu, Iris' Emolga, Ritchie's Sparky, and 4 other Pikachus died. When I saw Dawn got euthanized and her Piplup disemboweled, I felt nauseous. I didn't feel so good at the time. But as the days drag on . . . I didn't feel much. And that wasn't the worst part.

"It's like, I should just . . . take this all in stride and move on, like its normal. I asked myself if I was robbed of my humanity. I began to distance myself from my mom, our friends, you, Max, Professor Oak . . . everybody. Tesla's right all along, relationships are fading away as time goes by. Right now, tensions are high, the most minor slip up would end a friendship or a life.

Ash shook his head, "What are we becoming?"

"Something worse than Team Rocket?" Max asked.

"We're on the same page here with Team Rocket, I doubt they're much of a threat now than they once was. It's no use describing people who they once were."

"Oh, Ash," May shuttered, she gasped and started crying to herself. Hugging her brother close.

Max looked at Ash with puppy eyes, "What are we going to do?"

"The plan is figure out how this new world works, then we take a stand by clearing out all the Undead from the island. We'll start over here, maybe create a new society. And I know the key to it."

May stopped crying, suddenly interested, "You do?"

Ash pointed where he thought was north, "Faraday City. After all this time, it still has power, since every building produces its own electricity. WE're still getting police reports from the metropolis, so we can safely assume some form of government is still running over there."

"That plan might actually work, but we need an expert."

"Mark or Tesla, take your pick."

"Tesla's been around for a while," said Max, "Let's ask him!"

"Firs, we gotta find him. He was in a conversation with Team Rocket when we head upstairs earlier, he doesn't stay in one spot for long. He moves around this place quite a lot."

May let out a smile, her spirits lifting again, "Well, Ash, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'd never thought of seeing things that way."

"I'm doing my best." said Ash.

Before May and Max left, Ash suddenly remembered something, "Oh wait, where were you guys most of the time? We barely even see you anymore."

"In this room," May simply say, "Trying to be alone for a few moments a day, to collect our thoughts."

"Oh, um . . . okay then."

Ash waited a moment after May and Max left the room. He wondered to himself if what he said was valid, he couldn't lie to his friends about this. It was a bold plan. Mark and his friends might approve and maybe even Tesla, but just how to put that plan to action was beyond his imagination.

He pulled out his 9mm and examined it, then shook his head. His life before required Poké balls and Pokémon, now it was guns and ammunition, instruments of death and destruction. They went against everything he known about life. He recalled the many times he was almost shot. They were scary. No, frightening. Ash didn't wanna experience those moments again, but he never thought he would ever take the place of the shooter.

_What deity _murdered _the world? _He thought.

Ash stepped out of the room and head back downstairs. The crowd of friends and buddies had already departed and scattered throughout the Pokémon Center. Ash glanced at the barricade before walking into the next room.

He approached the workbench before him. It was crafted out of plywood and wooden boards, all glued and nailed together. Mark had built it last week so he could use it to modify weapons, but he hadn't gotten around to that yet. Ash noted that sat untouched since its construction, Mark wouldn't mind if he used it for his own purposes.

Ash pulled out his 9mm pistol and unloaded it, he sat the magazine aside and took the gun apart. He grabbed the nearby oil and cleaning brush, then cleaned out all the grit that had built up in the weapon from weeks of abuse.

He cleaned every internal part, made sure the spring was also oiled. Ash reassembled the weapon and sat it aside, he took off his backpack and pulled out several empty 9mm magazines. He cleaned the magazines carefully, then got out a box of 9mm hollow-points. Ash loaded the magazines till they're full, he stuck a couple of magazines in the handgun pouches of his belt and added a couple more in the handgun pockets of his tactical vest. Now restocked with handgun ammo, Ash slide in a new magazine into the 9mm pistol and flipped the safety on. After checking the sights, he holstered the weapon and was done.

"Pikachu."

Ash turned and saw his Pikachu approaching. Again his eyes showed sorrow and sadness, but on a lesser degree than before. Pikachu stopped before his trainer and sat down, looking up at him in the eyes, "Hey, Pikachu." Ash asked.

"Pika." the Mouse Pokémon chirpped.

"You hungry?"

The Mouse Pokémon rubbed his belly and nod, "Pika."

"I wish I can feed you, buddy. If it's alright with you, I can let you have all my rations for the day."

Pikachu let out a smile and jumped into Ash's arms, the Pokémon trainer hugged him and stroke the back of his head, "Pikachu!" Pikachu thanked him.

Ash pulled him away and looked at Pikachu, their faces only centimeters apart, "You comfortable having Team Rocket here?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu shrugged his shoulders.

"Not to sure either, huh?"

Pikachu nodded.

"Well, if they're being a detriment to our friends and the other survivors . . . you can let out on them."

The Mouse Pokémon cracked a grin, he could barely contain his laughter, "Pikachu!"

"Hey, um . . . Ash?"

Ash and Pikachu noticed Tesla near the door, the look on his face wasn't natural on him. He looked like he was about to shed a waterfall of tears, yet his iron will dammed the way. Tesla took a deep breath and exhaled, "I need your help, Ash. I never asked you a favor before, since you did so much for me in the past. But hear me out, I _really _need your help. You should understand my situation well."

"What's wrong, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked as well.

"Gather up your friends, Mark and his friends . . . F*ck, gather everybody. I want to share this with them, since I'm going to need all the help I can get."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	25. Ch 25: Lock & Load

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXV_

_Lock and Load_

Ash followed through with Tesla's request. He went all over the Pokémon Center and told his friends to gather at the waiting room, when asked what for Ash simply stated that Tesla needed everyone for something important. They all agreed and eventually head to the waiting room, Ash was surprised that it didn't took much convincing to persuade them.

Once at the waiting room, Ash saw that most of his friends had gathered. Mark and his friends sat in a corner, Mark's Pikachu and Emolga sat in their laps as Plusle and Minun sat on their shoulders. Misty and Brock sat on the floor with their legs crossed. May and Max sat in the chairs and got comfortable. Iris and Cilan also sat in chairs, Axew sat on Iris' lap as she scratched the back of the Tusk Pokémon's head. Wally sat at a far corner, not saying much. He simply looked on, waiting for something to happen as the others. The only people weren't here were Delia and Professor Oak, Ash heard they were with Nurse Joy on something. Might as well leave them alone and fill them in on everything later.

It didn't take long for Tesla to show up. Once he walked into the room, everyone went silent. Ash sat in a chair and clutched his Pikachu in his arms, ready to bolt out of the room at a moment's notice.

"Okay," said Tesla, "Let's state the obvious: I have a problem and all of y'all are worried that if I loose it, because of my . . . uh, history. Is it not?"

"Yup." Mark said without hesitation.

Everyone else somewhat agreed, "Well guys," Tesla continued, "This is what's bothering me.

"My trainer, Irvin Westinghouse, had been dead for 20 years. He passed away from a sudden heart attack, you know what happens a few days after his funeral."

"You lost your sh*t and became an outlaw," Mark added, "Until Ash came along and pulled your head out of your ass."

Ash didn't say anything as some eyes glanced over him, then they turn their attention back to Tesla.

Tesla chuckled, "That about sums it up."

"So what's wrong, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked as well.

"The Undead nightmare had an affected on us all. You may think it doesn't have much of an affect on me, but id did. And no, killing Iris' Emolga and 2 of my own kind because they're zombified has nothing to do with what's concerning me.

"The dead are coming back to life, they're literally crawling out of their graves," Tesla let out a long sigh, "I fear that my trainer would come back."

Tesla let it sank in for a moment before finally adding, "And I wanna go over to his final resting place, and make sure he doesn't."

"Damn," said Mark, "You were that close with him, huh."

That was no question, "Yeah," said Tesla, "Irvin's strict and a bit of an ass at times, but we were close."

Ash shook his head and stood up, "Your asking for our help on the matter?"

"Pika?" Pikachu added.

"Yes, Ash. I'm begging you for your help, cause it's suicide for me to do this alone."

"Well I'm in, we all gotta help each other at these times."

"I volunteer," said Wally, "Tesla's the only reason why I ever got into law enforcement. Besides, I was a fan of him and Irvin during their glory days in Pokémon battling."

"There's two," said Tesla, he turned to Mark and asked, "How about you, Mark? Would you help me on this?"

Mark formed a mad look on his face, he stood up and glared at the old Pikachu for a moment and said, "If it was me, asking you to put my life on the line, I would do it. There were times where you saved me and the lives of my friends and Pokémon – But," Mark shot a finger at Tesla, "I do remember the times where you endangered them, _nearly _killed them. And you succeeded in the case of my Magnemite!"

"I can't argue with that, but-"

"But what!?"

Tesla panicked, or looked like he was panicking, "I didn't know that you were trying to help me! I swear, I didn't f*cking know! All the other trainers used those same words Ash used and nearly bagged me, I was so deep in my own paranoia that I . . ."

Ash saw emotion in Tesla's eyes as the old Pikachu ranted along, he was serious about dealing with this reality. Mark however was still glued to the past, not letting go the times where Tesla made his Pokémon suffer as he was on the run from the law. Ash knew he needed to make a stand, he had to share his opinion on this.

" . . . I was scared," Tesla continued, "I had nobody left to turn to. It was-"

"Mark," Ash he interrupted Tesla, "Irvin's family to him. Think about it, what are we without family?"

Mark sighed, "Well sh*t, Ash. Now that you mentioned it . . ."

He turned to Tesla and breathed, "My grandfather had been Irvin's closest friend too, and he also taken good care of you, I guess family is all that matters. Alright, I'm in. But on one condition."

"Say it." said Tesla.

Mark raised a finger, "There's a catch. You'll need police support when dealing with Faraday City Graveyard, I kinda . . . f*cked it up on the way over here, accidentally."

"Well," said Tesla, "The problems you cause were always hilarious."

"You'll need to convince my father and his father to help you, or else you'll be left without support and it wouldn't be much of a family thing. A majority of the FCPD signed up for law enforcement _because _of you, either they were fans and hoped to catch you or enemies who wanted to stop you for more devious reasons."

Tesla shook his head, "Matt was always a true friend, but I was always mean to his son during his childhood. Emmett just wanted to hold me, to play with me. And I just hissed at his face, showing him sharp teeth, warning him to back off."

The old Pikachu grinned, revealing now rotten enamel, "I had mellowed since then and my teeth weren't as sharp as they once were, he might get lucky now despite the change in times."

"What happened to your teeth?" Wally asked.

Tesla shrugged, "A byproduct from the outlaw years, I blame the food scraps in the trash cans."

"That's 3," said Ash, "Anyone else wanna volunteer?"

"I'll go," said Cilan, "I could help out."

"I'm in," said Brock, "I wanna see this Irvin for myself."

"I don't think he'll let you have his autograph, Brock." said Tesla.

"Okay," said Wally, "That's 5 people, that should be enough. Anymore folks and things will get chaotic and disorganized during transit."

"I know Faraday City like the back of my hand." said Mark.

"And so do me and Wally." said Tesla.

Mark rolled his eyes, "I can tell you that when I left it, it was a war zone. We might have to shoot our way in and out since it'll be infested with the Undead. And for that, we're going to need some better firepower. And we all know where to get," he let out a grin and said, "Are y'all thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I know what you're thinking," said Henry, "I can help you get the hardware."

Tesla nodded nonchalantly and looked around the room, "I think it's now that day. Suit up folks, we're going to crack open a treasure chest."

**. . .**

Ash cocked the .22 varmint rifle and flipped the safety back on, he checked his sights again before making a paranoid look behind his shoulder. Wally and Henry had their pistols ready as Brock and Cilan gripped tightly to their melee weapons. Brock had the usual fire ax, somehow he managed to get it clean every time he used it on the Undead. Cilan had a regular wooden baseball bat, looking closely Ash could see the tan stains of blood that no bleach could clean out.

The group sat on a roof of an abandoned store, just across the street from the Carson City police department. The police station was a large 2 story building, half the height of the Pokémon Center but had the same width and length. The station was marked with the Faraday Island police decals near the parking lot entrance and the front door. The building was dark, windows were broken, cars were beaten up and abandoned. A few rotting corpses lay here and there, some of them being devoured by the Undead.

The parking lot had a SWAT vehicle sitting in the middle of the road, with the back doors wide open. An Undead police officer wearing a bloody SWAT uniform and armor stood lopsided, staring into space with his red eyes. It eventually cricked its head towards a tasty looking corpse, it seemed a bit fresh. The Undead approached the body and got to its knees, then checked the corpse by sniffing some of the body parts.

It eventually rejected the corpse, it was too rotten to be eaten. The zombified SWAT officer got back up, cracking several joints as it walked away.

"I wonder what's taking Mark and Tesla so long." said Wally as he sat and watch the Undead roam the streets below, they didn't appear to had noticed the group yet.

"Maybe Mark and Tesla were arguing again," said Henry, "I just don't understand the two on how their relationship works."

Pikachu huddled close to Ash for warmth, the weather was getting cold again. The sun was heading back towards the horizon, signaling the day was going to end. Ash looked at Officer Wally, who unnervingly stared at the abandoned police station where he once worked, "Something wrong, Wally?" Ash asked.

"I know the Carson police force well," said Wally, his eyes still glued to the entrance, "They're like a 2nd family. That Undead SWAT officer right over at the parking lot, that's Francis. I had coffee with him two days before the outbreak."

"He had all that armor on, how did he turn?"

"I think I saw a bite on his neck, that must had done him in."

"Had you ever been inside the armory, Wally?" Henry asked.

"I walked passed it everyday, but I didn't take a look inside. Only the quartermaster and the Chief of Police can gain access, everyone else had to get permission. I do know that the armory is right behind the quartermaster's desk, just down the hall from the Chief's office."

"What kind of lock does the armory have?"

"It has an electronic lock, it requires a 4-digit pass code. I don't know the code itself, but I do know where to look for it."

A few boards clattered to the pavement behind Ash, he spun around and saw Mark and Tesla climbing back onto the roof. Mark appeared to be carrying a red gas can, he used his free hand to help Tesla up on the roof as Emolga pulled some .22 short rounds out of Mark's pockets and reloaded her Ruger. Tesla shook his arms and legs before stretching, he looked like he had a lot of fun, "Distraction is primed and ready," said Mark, "It should last at least 2 hours, that would give us enough time to get in and hang around for a while."

"Okay," said Wally, "Set it off."

Mark pulled out a detonator and clicked the red switch, a second later the ground shook with tremendous force. 300 meters away, a mushroom cloud of fire shot towards the sky as several air horns and car alarms went off. Ash held his breath and listened, by the time the shaking stopped the moans of the Undead raised in volume.

"I love explosions." Tesla smiled.

Several zombies started climbing out of the abandoned buildings, including the police station itself. They moved their rotting limbs, almost in a soldier-like walk as they head towards the scene of the chaos. Ash was amazed at the number of Undead filling the streets, both the zombified humans and Pokémon could be expecting dinner when they homed in on the noise. No doubt every single soul and walking corpse heard and felt the explosion, this would buy the group a remarkable amount of time.

When the last of the Undead dragged their feet out of view, Mark tapped Ash on the shoulder, "Those air horns will last only 2 hours, that should give us enough time to crack open the armory like a gold mine."

"First we check all the rooms for Undead and kill any that we find," Tesla added, "Then we get to work."

Mark turn to Ash, "I recommend either using your 9mm pistol or crowbar on this one, that .22 rifle doesn't fair well in point-blank range."

"Okay, Mark."

Ash holstered the .22 rifle and pulled out his 9mm pistol, he took out the suppressor for it and screwed it back onto the tip of the barrel, "Let's make it happen, guys."

"You take lead," said Wally, "You're the one with the silenced weapon."

"Okay," said Ash, "Cover our backs, we're going in."

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

The group climbed down as Ash lead the way to the police station, his gun cocked with the safety turned off. Ash pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on, he used his flashlight arm to support his gun arm. The bright powerful beam stripped away the darkness, revealing horrors they hide.

A couple of bodies lay on the floor, deteriorated beyond recognition from weeks of decay. The smell overwhelmed Ash's nose, Pikachu could barely stay on his shoulder as nausea gripped them both, "I know that smell," said Tesla, "Smells like one of my spicy fresh farts."

Mark and Henry burst out laughing, Ash shot a look at them, they quieted down within moments, "Um, sorry," said Mark, "That was a personal joke of ours."

"Just keep your eyes open, Mark," Ash rolled his eyes, "Okay, search the place high and dry. Don't leave any rooms left unchecked."

Mark, Henry, and Wally clicked on their flashlights and the whole room got brighter. Ash noticed Mark was carrying a red can, it glistened under the beam of his flashlight, "Mark," Ash asked, "What's that?"

"Bio-diesel," said Mark, "I siphoned it from a nearby truck."

Ash paused for a moment, "I don't wanna know how you got it, or that can, But can you tell me what you're going to use it for?"

"I'm going to see if I can restore power in this place, if I can get the backup generator up and running again we may as well use this police station as a 2nd safehouse."

"I agree with that plan," said Wally, "Besides, without power we might not even get into the vault anyway."

"You know where the utility room is?"

"Right this way."

As Wally showed Mark where the generator was, Henry turned towards Ash, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," said Ash, he shined the flashlight at Henry's feet to avoid blinding him, "What's up?"

"Ever since your Pikachu lost it, something's been bothering me."

"What's bothering you, Henry?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"My Raichu accepted his fate, he ended it all _without _hesitation. Day after day, I puzzled to myself, wondering how my Raichu decided so quickly. My thought crossed over the day when . . ."

Henry suddenly stopped and looked around, Ash wondered what he was looking for and noticed Tesla had vanished, "Tesla locked him and your Pikachu in a cage when we pissed him off that day," Henry continued, "I wondered what he did with him during that time, since he hates Raichus."

"He doesn't actually hate Raichus," said Ash, "He just doesn't wanna become one."

"Pika." Pikachu added.

"I wondered if Tesla tortured him, and your Pikachu as well. Whatever he did to him, he wasn't the same since, even though they kissed and made up after the debacle was over."

"Henry," said Ash, "Just let it go, anything we could have done might changed the look of the outcome but not the outcome itself. It was a trap of our doing."

"Yes," said Henry, "It was. Mark indirectly got my Raichu killed by pissing off the dead in that cemetery, the same cemetery Irvin was buried. You know why I don't blame him for what happened to my Mouse Pokémon?"

"No, I don't."

"We always f*ck things up, it's just no surprise that Raichu got what he got. I'm going to miss him dearly, but I know deep down that . . . we all know what's are ultimate fate."

Ash nodded, "Thanks for sharing that, Henry."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded as well.

"Thanks," said Henry, "If Raichu was bitten in the tail, Mark would have hacked it off. He knew Raichu was a goner at the very moment he got bit, I didn't realize that until the poor thing started getting sick."

"Remember to check those rooms."

"I will remember."

As Henry walked away, Ash looked around for Brock and Cilan. They too were nowhere in sight, "Did you see where they had gone, Pikachu?"

"Pika." Pikachu shrugged.

"Keep your ears tuned, buddy. No telling what kind of horrors lay in this station."

Ash began his clean sweep of the station. He peered through several doorways with his gun ahead of him, finding the same scene over and over again. Metal desk were overturned, papers were scattered everywhere, broken furniture sprinkled here and there, bullet holes pop-marked the walls and ceiling, and many dead bodies – their heads smashed in or filled with a few bullet holes.

The Undead trashed the place like a bunch of drunken college kids on a Friday night, trying viciously to get their prey. Ash kept finding half-eaten bodies. Most of them wearing the Faraday Island police uniform. Some cops were disemboweled, but those who had a kevlar vest on had their torso spared, everything else was stripped clean to the bone by deathly jaws. Ash looked away from a face of a corpse, its head was stripped from most of its flesh – leaving behind a bloody skull. The jaws were locked open, he or she must had screamed before dying.

"I'm going to wake up any time now," said Ash to himself, trying his best to keep the gun and flashlight steady, "This is all just a nightmare, not real. Just not real."

Ash walked back into the hall, his eyes jacked wide open as his heart raced faster than a jet engine, "All imaginary, just imaginary. Sooner or later, I will wake up. And when I wake up, I'm going to climb out of bed and have a nice hot bath at the Pokémon Center. I'm going to have a big breakfast and relax in the sun, maybe train my Pokémon new moves. Yes. That I will do. I'm going to. I'm going to . . . I'm going to?"

Reality began to feel like a lucid dream within the darkness of the police station, his mind was fully alert but his body was relaxed. He stopped and stared at a painting of a beautiful ship, transfixed at the wavy patterns of the brush that made the artwork, "It's a boat," Ash complimented, "You know, Pikachu. We came on this island on a boat."

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, probably wondering what he was talking about.

Ash drift into another room where . . . of course, another body. This one was wearing a bloody police uniform. It was propped up on a chair with his head hunched back, mouth gaping wide open. It was as if he was passed out drunk. Ash cocked his head to an angle and gave it a curious look, he blinked hard and stared at it for a second.

"Not very lucky, huh?" Ash spoke to the corpse, "You sitting comfortably in your final resting place?"

The corpse was unresponsive, sitting there, completely inert. Ash didn't seem to notice, "Not the talkative type , are you? Are you even awake, hello?"

The corpse finally stirred. It slowly straightened its head, letting out a hiss as it gave Ash its full attention. Bright evil red eyes stared into Ash's, yet he wasn't intimidated or scared.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, tapping Ash's head to remind him what was at stake.

Ash grabbed Pikachu, pulled him off his shoulder, and dropped him on a nearby desk. The Mouse Pokémon bounced on his rear, making a loud metal thud on the desk. He shot back to a far corner, his fur shivering all over.

When Ash refocused on the zombie, it started to get up. It stretched out a rotten arm and moaned, trying to make a sluggish grab for Ash. He grinned and smashed the butt of his pistol into the Undead's face, it slammed back into the wall and fell out of its chair. Just as it tried to get up, Ash stomped on its neck and pinned it down.

"I had sideswiped death many times in the past," Ash told the zombie, "Some of those times I actually died, but came back. My friends were worried at some of those near death experiences. I somehow became petrified from getting into the crossfire of Mewtwo and Mew. You know what it feels like to become stone?"

The Undead growled and snarled, more concerned in getting Ash than his story.

"It feels like being locked in ice," Ash explained, "Everything freezes, everything stops. Like falling asleep, when you wake up you wonder what had just happened."

Ash stomped on the zombie again, snapping its neck with a loud crack. Its arms and legs went limp, no longer controlled by the dead brain, but the thing continued to growl and moan with a snapping jaw.

"I get it, I get it! Just what are we without family? We're nothing, of course. But what are we with a family we just duct taped together? They don't share a lot of our beliefs. We share common sense and ideas obviously, but _not _at heart."

He stomped on the Undead's skull, breaking its jaw in three pieces, the head bled little as the Undead continue to gurgle and groan. Now sounding like it was trying to scream for relief, "I had made a lot of friends, yet I don't get to see most of them! They're probably barely survivor or dead, like the friends I luckily have with me!"

Ash stomped again, cracking the Undead's skull, "And what about all the Pokémon I caught, kept, and released over the years? Most of them now gone forever, because of this plague of Undead. The ones I have left could barely keep themselves together!

_Stomp!  
_"Then finally there's my mom, who still treats me like a kid!"

_Stomp!_

"I couldn't – no, I _lost _count on all the times everyone and my own mother asked me if I'm alright. We're in the middle of an apocalypse, of course I'm _not _alright!"

_Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!_

Ash stepped back and saw the zombie, its head squashed in. Dead. But Ash wasn't done yet, he grabbed the corpse by the collar of its bloody uniform and pulled it back on the chair, "I'll tell you this," Ash spoke in a whisper, "Was it Mark, or was it Tesla, who said the dead always win?" He snorted, "Win what? There's nothing to gain from the lost of lives. Well, I'll tell you what. If we're all going to wound up Undead in the end, I'm making sure everyone is getting a little surprise."

Ash clicked the hammer of his pistol back and aimed it at the corpse's squashed head, "Over my dead body will I loose my memories and reason when I turn!"

He squeezed the trigger and put a single bullet straight into the corpse's shattered face, spraying black blood onto the white dry wall behind it. Ash pant heavily as he lowered his gun, relaxed that he let out all of his stress in one go.

"Damn, Ash."

Ash spun around and saw Tesla standing by the doorway, his eyes somewhat lit up from shock but he seemed quite mellow about what happened, "You went all out on him, did you get out what you need to get out?"

The Pokémon trainer blinked and glanced back at the corpse, "Yeah, I did."

"You gotta let out all that stress sooner or later," said Tesla, "can't blame you for that."

"Somehow the creepy atmosphere of the police station had amplified my thoughts," said Ash, "I just didn't know what was I doing until you came along."

Tesla smiled, "You're not alone, Ash. I almost lost my head in the next room, but I got distracted from your meltdown."

"How much did you see from my . . . episode?"

"When the cop came back. From what I heard, its safe to say we have some things in common."

Ash turned to Pikachu, his eyes was wide from terror as his body shook with tremors. When Ash held up a hand, Pikachu stepped back and crouched as small as possible. He looked at his trainer like he didn't even know him.

"Sorry you have to see all that, Pikachu." Ash apologized.

"Pika Pika Pika P Pika." Pikachu muttered.

"He said his meltdown was much worse than yours." Tesla translated.

"Chuuuu." He let out a soft cry.

Ash picked up Pikachu and held him close, the Mouse Pokémon calmed down and relaxed but his eyes remained locked open. After a moment, Pikachu climbed back on Ash's shoulder and got comfortable, "Time to get back on track," said Ash, "How many rooms have we checked?"

"I got at least half of the rooms," said Tesla, "Smashed in a few skulls from several bodies, just to make sure."

"With what?"

Tesla held up his ice ax and grinned, the hook-shaped blade was soaked in blood, "Oh," said Ash, "That thing."

The ceiling lights came on without warning, and everything went white. Ash covered his eyes as his night vision was immediately shattered, he looked up at the ceiling and saw the florescent bulbs were on and glowing bright, "Looks like Mark got the power back up and running," said Ash, "That was a major relief, we needed that."

"The power of light," said Tesla, "Drives the darkness back."

Ash and Tesla head back to the lobby. When they got there, they saw the HDTV was turned on. It showed a blue screen with the words "No Signal!" printed in the center. Ash approached it and turned it off, no use for television these days. He stepped back and looked off towards the entrance, the air horns and car alarms were still blaring. There was still more time to check everything and secure this place."

"Hey, Ash," said Mark as he came back into the room, "The power is back up and running, it should last for a few hours if we're lucky."

"Okay," said Mark, "Where's Wally?"

"He's at the armory door right now, this way."

Mark led Ash to the entrance to the armory, it was a solid stainless steel door that looked like it can withstand explosions. Sure enough it had an electronic padlock, and requires a 4-digit combination to get in. Wally was going through all things in the quartermaster's desk, he slammed a drawer shut and stood up, "The combination's not here," he said, "It had to be somewhere!"

"We'll keep trying, Wally," said Mark, "We'll get that door open eventually."

"HELP!"

Everyone turned towards the end of the hall, the sound of glass breaking and furniture overturning made everyone jump, "That sound's like Cilan!" cried Ash.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu.

Ash drew his gun and ran down the hall, "Ash, wait!" cried Mark.

"Emolga!" Mark's Emolga cried.

He ran towards where he thought he heard the cries for help were coming from. Ash ran into the room and saw Cilan grappling with a zombie. The zombie had Cilan pinned against the wall, his baseball bat lay across the room out of arm's reach. Brock's ax was wedged into the wall, he tried his best to muscle it out but it wouldn't budge. Ash took aim at the Undead's head and fired a round, the zombie's head shot back and it released its grip on Cilan. It hit the floor with a thud.

"Thanks, Ash," Cilan breathed, "He surprised us there."

Brock finally got the fire ax unstuck from the wall, he turned around and shook his head, "The zombie popped out from underneath that desk," he gestured towards the overturned desk, "I almost had him with the ax, but I missed. He was on Cilan within a second."

Wally examined the corpse, "This is the quartermaster, I guess he didn't make it."

"There's a bite on his arm," said Mark, pointing to the horribly necrotic bite wound, "It's necrotic, he turned because of the infection from the bite."

Ash crouched down and searched the body's pockets, he pulled out the quartermaster's wallet and searched the contents for anything useful. After flipping through the credit cards and cash, Ash found a slip of paper with 4 numbers on it, "One misfortune is everybody's lucky day, I think this is the combination for the armory."

"Had to be," said Wally, "I knew he wrote it down somewhere."

"You want to do the honors in typing in the code?" said Mark.

"Yeah, why not."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded with a smile.

Cilan picked up his baseball bat and examined it, "I think I'll try my hands at a firearm now," he said, "Or at least get a better melee weapon."

"Let's see what we have then." said Mark.

The group head back to the armory door and approached it, Ash glanced at the small slip of paper again. He typed in the numbers in the keypad and pressed enter, a green light appeared on the keypad and the locks disengaged. The vault door slowly swung inward, Mark's jaw dropped as he stared inside.

"Hey guys," said Henry, "I checked the basement, there were a couple Walkers but I-"

He stopped short when Mark grabbed his chin and turned his head towards the armory's interior, Henry's jaw dropped as well, "The motherlode!"

The armory was the size of a medium-sized bedroom, the walls, floor, and ceiling were made out of complete steel. The room was loaded with all types of firearms, handguns, shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles, mounted on the walls and floor of the armory. Glass cabinets mounted on the walls were filled with all types of ammunition on design and measurement. All the calibers and millimeter rounds had their own cabinets, everything else was divided up by the type of individual ammunition. Tesla stepped forward, his jaw dropped in awe from the countless number of weapons at his disposal, "Mark, Henry, I think we're in gun-nut paradise."

"Okay, guys," said Mark, holding his arms back to prevent everyone from rushing in, "Let's be gentlemen here, we can't afford to become greedy at this critical moment."

"Look at this," said Tesla as he grabbed a sub-machine gun from the rack, "An M3A1 submachine gun, selective fire!"

"All guns on the island are capable of fully-auto are selective fire," said Wally, "Pick out what you want, then we'll begin boarding up the station."

Ash went through the racks of guns as everyone else took their pick, his eyes centered in on the AR-15. He picked it up and checked the sights. Yes, this would work. He turned towards the rest of the group, Henry grabbed a SPAS-12 and began loading it with shotgun shells, Cilan and Brock sheepishly picked out some submachine guns. They checked their weight and get a feel of the grip, looking for weapons that were comfortable for them. They each picked out a PP90M1, then checked the guns, "What ammunition do these use?" Brock asked.

"9mm rounds," said Mark, "We have plenty of them around here."

Mark grabbed an AR-15 and loaded a magazine into it, then cocked it, "Looks like we finally get an AR-15 after all, Henry."

"This SPAS-12 can take a head off someone's shoulders," said Henry, "I'll go with this gun . . . on second thought, I'll go with a submachine gun since silencers don't work to well on shotguns."

Mark opened up a box of suppressors from the corner and went through them, "Many different types here," he said, "Here's a couple that can go with the AR-15."

He screwed a suppressor onto his rifle and tossed one to Ash, he caught it and attached it to the end of his barrel as well, "Everybody get a suppressor," said Mark, "Or else the noise would attract the Undead."

The others grabbed a suppressor from the box and attached it to their guns, Wally grabbed an M3A1 and attached a suppressor to it before sliding a magazine in, "Is everyone done?" he asked as he chambered a round into the weapon.

"Yeah," said Ash, "I think we're done."

"There's some wooden planks in the garage, we can spend the time cutting those down to size and board up the windows. We'll start by boarding up the windows on the outside, I'm not too worried about the sound of a hammer banging away as long as Mark's distraction keeps on blaring. We work fast and get a chain going, Tesla you get a sniper rifle and be our lookout since you're the best shot here."

"I know where to aim," said Tesla as he strapped his M3A1's gun sling over his shoulder, "Just make sure you take care of the zombies I happen to miss."

"Will do."

Ash got out the .22 varmint rifle and handed it to Tesla, "Here, Tesla. I don't think I need this anymore."

"Thanks, Ash."

Tesla took the rifle without question and head up to the roof.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	26. Ch 26: Doesn't Feel Like Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXVI_

_Doesn't Feel Like Home_

It took an hour to board up every 1st floor window, just as the group were mid-way through boarding up the inside the distraction of air horns and car alarms had ceased. They worked fast against time, taking turns cutting the wood to length and nailing them into the frames of the windows. Henry managed to find a roll of black trash bags and duct tape, he used his hunting knife to cut the bags into sheets, then duct taped them over the windows. This would keep ambient light from seeping through and air if the window was broken.

But the main entrance was still exposed, none of the wooden boards was long enough to even span the length of the entrance. Wally and Mark created a trench-like barricade just behind it, similar to the one at the Pokémon Center. But this barricade was only temporary until they could get a proper one built over the entrance. When Wally radioed in that they have found a cache of loot, Natas sent in a team of survivors to pick it up. Interesting enough the team arrived in Mark's pickup truck, with Carley behind the wheel. They pulled up and began loading guns into the back. The process took several trips to and from the Pokémon Center, within 20 minutes they got most of the guns to the main safehouse.

"Ash," said Mark, "You gotta come see this!"

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Just look!"

Mark led Ash to the garage where he showed him his find, several boxes of spare automobile parts were pulled back to reveal a light machine gun turret. It was designed with a ring system, so that the mounted machine gun would "slide" 360 degrees around the user. To Ash, it looked more like an oversized stool without the seat, "There's an M60 light machine gun in the armory, I can weld the turret onto the back of my truck and get the machine gun mounted. That would turn my pickup truck into a technical!"

Ash was lost, "A technical?"

"Civilian war machines," Mark explained, "they're pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on the back. We're going to need some form of gunnery when we're going into Faraday City, like I said its a war zone."

Mark picked up a portable welding machine and examine it, "Yeah," he said, "This will work."

With some added help from Henry and Brock, the group muscled the turret mount out of the garage and outside where the pickup truck had just came back. The police officers who saw the turret raised a few eyebrows, since they knew of the turret mount's existence before hand. But since they had no use for it before the initial outbreak, or after, they turned a blind eye as the group got the turret into position in the trunk, "Okay," said Mark, "I'm going to weld the feet to the floor, you guys go get the M60 and bring it back."

The group head back to the armory and noticed half of it was already cleaned out, the stunning effect of so many guns had already faded. But the M60 Mark was talking about was still there, underneath metal work bench. They managed to carry it out of the armor and back outside where Mark puts the finishing touches in welding the turret mount. The bright flashes of light prevented Ash from looking directly at him but he could see Mark's Emolga with a pair of welding goggles, watching her trainer work. When Mark was finished, he looked up and pulled off the welding mask, "Bring it in!"

He took off the welding gear and helped the group sit the M60 in the back, "I'm going to clean this," said Mark, "Go get the ammunition cases for it, we'll get it working in no time."

When the group came back with several ammunition cases, Mark had managed to get the M60 latched on the turret mount. He swiveled it around 360 degrees, checking the sights as he aimed it at reference points, "Alright," he cheered, "We got a technical!"

"You're just borrowing that, right?" Wally asked as he approached.

"How about you man the gun," said Mark as he got off his truck, "Since it's police property and your police. That way, my Dad won't swear about it much when we come rolling in."

Wally shrugged, "Fair enough."

Carley approached with an arm full of handguns and saw the turret herself, "Mark," she said, "Your dad is going to kill you."

"He'll have to kill me twice in this new world." Mark laughed.

Henry, Emolga, and Carley chuckled. Ash somewhat let out a laugh, he didn't really think it was that funny. He spoke more truth in this death joke.

"These survivors will stay here and guard the place," said Wally, "Let's head back to the Pokémon Center now."

"Load that machine gun," said Mark, "We probably will attract a lot of attention as we roll through town. Besides, Tesla has to come down."

Wally opened up one of the ammo boxes and pulled out a gun belt, he fed it into the M60 and pulled the bolt back. It was ready to go. Ash looked up at the roof and saw Tesla firing a silenced round into the distance, he looked where he was aiming and saw a zombie drop to the ground. Time had run out, it was time to go. Tesla was soon relieved by one of the experienced survivors, he quickly got down and ran out into the street. The .22 varmint rifle strapped horizontal on his shoulders. When he got back to the truck, he saw the turret for himself, "Mark's idea?" he asked.

"Yup." said Ash.

Tesla grunted, "Figures, he always gets the better sh*t."

Mark hopped into the passenger-side of the cab and Carley drove off. As they head back, Ash found it odd that Wally had to stand when manning the machine gun. He quickly saw the advantage to the ring turret, it kept the user in place when things get bumpy. Though it was a bad position to be in a car accident, thankfully Mark doesn't drive that fast.

The group made it back without incident, they pulled up in front of the Pokémon Center and parked the technical, "We got five minutes," said Wally, "Make it quick."

Everyone got out and got together, "Okay," said Mark, "Henry, Carley, you guys stay here and hold down the fort. Do what you can to keep this place up and running."

"Got it, Mark." said Henry.

"Don't get yourself killed on this trip." said Carley.

"I'll be sure I come back in one piece."

Ash jogged inside and quickly used the bathroom, his Pikachu also took a quick potty break and stretched his legs. With the toilets no longer working, specialized compost toilets were built. People do their business in these toilets, straight into bio-degradable bags, these bags were then taken out and placed outside the Pokémon Center where they were burned.

Once Ash finished, he looked at his hands and saw how filthy they were. It had been a month since the Pokémon Center had running water, whatever that was stored had to be rationed. The lack of proper hygiene made the Pokémon Center smelled horrid, enough to make anyone with a strong stomach lose their lunch. Sometimes Ash felt itchy and sticky on some days, at times the thought of a shower was stronger than hunger.

When Pikachu was done, the two left the bathroom where Delia was waiting, "Ash," she said, "I heard about Tesla's problem, and your role in solving it."

"Mom, I-"

"I _worry _every time you go out there. I know I told you this many times before, but this is different. Your dreams had collapsed, and I worry if you would-"

"Lose it?" Ash finished.

"Yes."

"Mom," Ash politely explained, "I already lost my innocence. You can't keep treating me like a kid, Mom. Cause I'm not going to be a kid forever."

Delia sighed, "What you're going to do, is selfless. But what if you don't come back?"

"There's no way I'm going to leave the island, Mom."

Delia stamped her feet, "That's not what I mean, what if you get yourself killed out there!?"

"Do you have any idea how common the near death experiences were during my journey, before the world ended?"

Delia didn't know what to say. She reached out and gave Ash a big hug, "Try not to become somebody else lunch."

"I'll try." said Ash.

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

When Ash got back outside, he hopped into the back of the car and gout out his AR-15. Mark came back with the Remington 870, he stuck it on the gun mount on his back window and took a seat behind the wheel, "So how did it go with your mom?" Mark asked.

"She's worried," said Ash, "You think you'll get a similar experience with your dad?"

"Not very likely, he knows when to let me go. He's better off without me."

Brock and Cilan came back and hopped into the back of the technical, their M3A1s loaded and ready to go, "Kinda ironic that we were here because we were on vacation," said Cilan, "Now we're fighting for our lives."

"Society had broken down," said Brock, "Home is so far away that it might as well be non-existent."

"I miss Pallet Town," said Ash, "Deep down, I don't think we would be able to see home again. Whatever's left there . . . I don't wanna think what's left."

Wally and Tesla finally came out, they hopped into the back of the technical. Tesla got settled in next to Ash as Wally manned the machine gun, he turned the M60 around so he was facing the front. Ash watched as Wally flipped off the safety of the LMG and got ready, "You can go anytime, Mark."

"Got it," said Mark, "Here we go!"

"Emolga!" Emolga cheered.

The pickup truck started rolling away, Ash saw several of his friends wave goodbye from the Pokémon Center windows. He let out a friendly wave, then they vanished from sight. Now all there was to look at were ruined stores, once operating in peak condition about a month ago, now rotting to their frames. Mark kept the speed at around 50 KPH, fast enough to cover a lot of ground but not to fast where they get stuck in a car accident.

Ash glanced at Tesla, the old Pikachu seemed very calm. Was he worried, or was he that good in controlling his own emotions?

Mark drove the technical out of Carson and into the forest. Ash had been in the forests of this island before, but this time it was different – either it was because of the time of year or the change of era. The forest was dead, completely silent. A lot of the trees were mostly skeletons, stripped of their leaves to reveal bare bark. The roadway itself was barren, not a single soul for kilometers. There were a few abandoned cars here and there, stripped of anything useful and torched to a crisp.

Ten kilometers later, the technical slowed, "Looks like that car up ahead has something useful inside," said Mark, "Ash, you wanna check it out."

"Sure," said Ash, "Pikachu, stay in the technical."

"Pikachu." Pikachu sobbed, his hands clutched tight to Ash's arm.

"It will only be a second."

Ash pried Pikachu's hands off his wrist, then leaped out of the technical. He approached the vehicle in question, it was a two-door red jeep – a Hydrogen fuel cell and electric engine hybrid. The emergency lights were blinking, indicating it was there recently. The driver side door was wide open, a blood trail leads away from the jeep towards the depths of the forest. Whoever had abandoned this jeep might not be coming back to reclaim it. Ash felt a stab of guilt in his gut, the AR-15 shook in his hands as he sheepishly approached the backside of the vehicle.

"I got a hundred pokédollars saying that Ash finds that same value in silver." Tesla announced.

"Very funny." Mark said sarcastically.

Ash peered into the vehicle, he found nothing obvious. He pressed the start button and the dashboard lit up, blue digital numbers lit up. Ash saw the electric battery was around 67%, the numbers glowing yellow. For the Hydrogen tank, the meter read 3% in red numbers. Ash shuts off the engine and looked elsewhere in the vehicle.

He peered into the trunk and saw a medium-sized storage container, Ash could see something inside through its translucent plastic, "I see something interesting." Ash announced.

"Get it!" Wally asked, his eyes scanning the environment for any threats with his middle finger hovering over the trigger of the M60.

Ash opened up the trunk and climbed inside, he grabbed the storage container and pulled it towards him. He opened it up and found a few things: a 500ml water bottle, a apparently new tomahawk, a box of kitchen matches, 5 one pokédollar coins, and a worn out hardback Pokémon guide book. Ash stuck the top of the storage container back on and placed it in the back of the technical, "One more thing to check." he said.

He rushed over to the passenger-side door and opened it, then popped open the glove compartment. Inside were the vehicle's registration, but there was something else. A couple of pistol magazines, Ash grabbed them and examined the bullet measurement. They were .32 caliber. Since most of the pistols the group had were 9mm rounds, these magazines were useless. But Ash took them anyway, maybe they'll find a pistol of the same ammo type or even trade it with someone.

"What else did you find?" Wally asked.

"All I found were a couple of unused .32 round magazines," said Ash as he held them up for Wally to see, "Practically useless, but maybe we can trade with it."

Ash hopped back into the trunk of the technical and signaled Mark to go, he went gentle on the petal and the vehicle slowly picked up speed. When it got back to 50 KPH, Ash pulled open the storage container again and showed his find to his friends, "This hatchet might come in handy," said Brock as he examined the tomahawk, "Carbon fiber handle, a nice sharp edge and spike. This might be useful in the forest."

Tesla reached into the bin and grabbed the book, he opened it up and his eyes went big, "This brings back good memories."

"What does?" Ash asked.

The old Pikachu showed him the inside cover of the book, the Pokémon guide-book happened to be written by Irvin Westinghouse himself, even _signed _by him, "This book was printed when Irvin was alive," said Tesla, staring at the book's cover, "I'd foreseen many of his book signings, if this book still had its paper picture cover it would have the picture of the Pikachu on it. Not too many people know that picture was actually me without the goggles."

Tesla sat the book back down in the storage container, "This guide-book talks a lot about Pokémon psychology, it might worth a small fortune during these dark times. Though it does bring back memories of my heyday, though I wouldn't call it my heyday."

"We're probably getting close to Faraday City already." said Brock.

"Maybe, all the roads in Faraday Island lead directly to it."

After a few more kilometers of driving, they passed by several more wrecks. Ash spotted a zombie or two, both were wondering around aimlessly. They took notice of the group but made no effort to chase them, as if they knew their chances on going against well armed survivors were slim.

The endless sea of trees soon gave way to an open grass field, across the grass field was Faraday City itself. The futuristic skyscrapers and buildings were still in good condition, and still operational. The postcard perfect view of the city was ruined by several smoke columns from burning fires, these smoke columns were thin – not big enough to be coming from an actual wild fire.

"Roadblock up ahead," said Mark, "Albeit abandoned."

Mark slowed the technical down and stopped, Ash and the group peered over the cab's roof and saw the roadblock for themselves. Several patrol cars with Faraday Island Police and FCPD decals blocked the road. Orange warning signs, plus a spike strip, made it clear that entry was denied. A bio-hazard sign that sits on the side of the roadblock had the word, "QUARANTINE" labeled on it in big red letters.

"Looks like what's left of a failed quarantine zone," said Wally, "I don't see any blood or anything, no signs of any foul play. It looked like the squad cars were _intentionally _left there."

"Hang on guys," said Mark, "I'm taking her off-road for a bit, I know a few roadways that might take us to the main FCPD headquarters."

"So do I." Wally muttered.

Mark pulled off the road and onto the grasslands, the technical bounced front to back from the uneven surface of grass. Ash hanged on to his Pikachu as Tesla hanged on to him, within a minute they were back on the road and were passing through the suburbs of the city.

"Wow," said Cilan, "Faraday City is beautiful."

"This is my home," said Tesla, shaking his head in sorrow, "Still shining in glory in the apocalypse."

"Are you alright, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" said Pikachu.

"This is my home, Ash," said Tesla, "Irvin grew up here, trained me here. I made history happen here, I did my contributions in putting that history in the library books!"

"Tesla and Irvin made Faraday City famous, Ash," said Wally, staring out to the history, "Irvin gave him a life."

"I can point out several places along the way that major points of history took place," said Tesla, "I know because I was there to see it, to make it. All that work, Irvin's work, probably had collapsed with the city's-"

"The power's still on, Tesla," said Mark, "Look."

Ash saw a traffic light up at an approaching 4-way intersection, it blinked a sunny yellow. Mark slowed down as he approached, then continued on.

"All that work," Tesla continued, "Gone, or somewhat gone. I thought I lost everything before, but now I _really _lost-"

"Tesla," said Ash, "Don't think about Irvin, don't think about Faraday City, think about Emmett Kissinger and where he might be."

"Yes, yes, of course. Kissinger, I just miss him."

As they passed the houses, Ash saw some of them ransacked. Garbage had built up on the curbs, windows were broken. Several front doors were kicked down, windows smashed. One house was burned to the frames, recently. Ash saw several Undead walking around, their red eyes simply rolled over the group as they passed by. Tesla started to become upset, yet he still had the strength to control his emotions.

Without warning Mark made a sudden left turn.

"Mark," said Wally, "Where you going?"

"Gotta check on the old house," said Mark, "Just a drive-by, a quick glance, and we'll move on."

"Well, we have time."

Tesla's eyes went big, "Mark, we gotta . . . oh what do I care, he's your dad. He could be hunkered down at home for all we know."

Mark quickly by his house and slowed to a stop. Even in the apocalypse, the Kissinger household still look like what he remembered. The odd part about it was it was untouched by looters, perfectly intact, "Home sweet home," said Mark, "Looks like those first few hours of preparing for the apocalypse paid off."

"That's your house?" Cilan asked.

"Yup, sure is."

"Wait a second, I didn't noticed the solar panels before. Every house here has them!?"

"Every building in Faraday City has solar panels and a vertical-axis wind turbine, which is why the city still has power."

Cilan placed both hands on his cheeks, "This place is built to last!"

"Can we go now?" Tesla asked, sounding like a child.

"Sure, you little rodent."

Mark drove away, Ash stared at his house until the technical turned to another road. All those memories on how he met Tesla came to mind, how they got off on a bad start and the amount of effort it took to help him. An old Pikachu with a bad past, trying to put it to rest before his time comes. Ash didn't wanna think what would happen if it does, and he had no doubt Tesla would wanna think about it either.

After detouring around a couple of more roadblocks and car accidents, the group managed to make their way to the city's inner core. Ash noticed several buildings and skyscrapers were ransacked around their first floor, most of the windows were shattered and the furniture either destroyed or missing. But the lights were still on, Faraday City's surviving residents peered through the windows and watched the group drove by. They were armed with semi-auto rifles and shotguns, those wearing a police or military uniform were armed with an assault rifle of some type.

"Wow," said Cilan, staring straight up at the skyscrapers, "Those towers are huge, its way bigger than in the distance!"

"The survivors had destroyed the staircases and deactivated the elevators," said Wally, "Turning them into towers of safety."

"Smart." said Ash.

Mark approached another flashing traffic light, he slowed and made a complete stop. A police car showed up at the right, Ash was surprised what kind. It was a police pickup truck, with a machine gun mounted on the back. Another technical. The machine gunner was also a cop, but he was wearing a SWAT uniform. The emergency lights on the roof were flashing, getting everyone's attention. The machine gunner glanced over at the group, a bit curious and also cautious. Ash could see him tighten his grip on his machine gun.

The police technical eventually drove off and the machine gunner looked away, leaving the group at be, "Familiar faces," said Wally, "I think we're close."

The group continued on, passing several abandoned cars and trashed store fronts. With the power still on, the city looked like it was under Marshall Law than anything else. So far they hadn't found a single zombie in the city core, but that could change at anytime.

Another roadblock up ahead, this one was manned by police. Mark slowed down and stopped before the barricade, he rolled down a window as a cop approached the window, "State your business here." he bluntly say.

Mark held up his driver's license, "I'm here to see my father," he said, "On a family matter."

The cop's eyes went big, "Hey, you're the chief's kid. We thought you and your friends were hunkered down somewhere!"

The other cops at the barricade took notice, their hands reaching for the safety switches, "We got an outpost set up in Carson," said Mark, "We're low on food, but we're okay on security. Before me and my friends left, we reclaimed the Carson Police Department, which explained the M60 in the back."

"Hello there." said Wally, holding up a friendly wave.

"Wally," said the guard, "It's been a while."

"Sure is."

The guard turned back to Mark, "Now what are you guys doing here again?"

"I need to find my father, cause I got an old friend of his who needs help."

"Who?"

Tesla climbed onto the roof of the technical and present himself, "You miss me, I know it."

The guard let out a loud swore, "It's Tesla, he's back!"

All the other cops gave mixed reactions, some cheered and whistled,others looked on. Memories surged up of all the trouble Tesla caused in the city in the past 20 years, which either started or ruined their law enforcement careers . . . while boosting tourism.

"I need to speak with the Chief of Police, about a personal issue. Yes, it has to do with the Undead outbreak that engulfed the world. But only in our local area."

"Um, okay." said the guard, "We'll escort you guys there."

"Thanks, friend."

A police technical started up and drove down the road, clearing the path for Mark to follow. He took it easy on the gas as he followed the squad car, as another squad car followed closely behind, "I can't believe my luck," said Tesla, "We made it to Faraday City in one piece, I thought we were going to fight through a horde of Undead."

"Not the ones with mass numbers," said Mark, "To the looks of everything here, my Dad got things under control."

The group continued to drive down the barren stretch of road, Ash saw several more survivors looking on through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor windows. They'd seem comfortable despite the outbreak, maybe they were comfortable because they get to have their very own tower. Ash saw several makeshift catwalks and crude suspensions bridges built across the gaps between buildings, some just to the next building – others from across the street. The suspension bridges look insane, cause some of the bridges were built out of crude materials like carpet and electric wire.

"That's ingenious," Ash commented, "Yet mad."

"Those bridges?" Tesla asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, at least we know the survivors here aren't _that_ paranoid."

Ash chuckled from that thought, and Tesla let out a smile, "But seriously," the old Pikachu said, "There's no telling how the urban dwellers would react to us."

A bloody tentacle shot out of a building with lightning speed, it wrapped itself around the machine gunner in the front technical and pulled him off instantly. He had no time to react when he was dragged onto the ground, into the clutches of an Undead. That zombie bit into his arm as the tentacle crunched his neck in a tight squeeze, "Holy sh*t," cried Wally, "What in f*ck's name was that!?"

The tentacle retracted as several more Undead came out of the buildings. Within one of the buildings, Ash could see an Undead Pokémon climbing out of the window. It had multiple snake-like tentacles, looking closely Ash could see it was the rotting carcass of a former Snivy. Those tentacles were actually a mutated form of Vine Whip. Along with two of its original vines, several more grew out of various places of its body. 4 in the sides of its torso, one from the neck, and one straight out of its back. They all move and flex individually as their owner glared at its potential meal, with red eyes glowing bright it let out a light monstrous roar with sharp teeth showing.

Ash pulled out his modified Pokédex and aimed it at the Undead Pokémon, it opened up and pulled up a photo of an Undead grass-type Pokémon:

"_Grappler_," said the Pokédex's electronic voice, "_The mutated form of the Undead grass-type Pokémon. These Undead Pokémon ensnare their pray with one or more of their many vines, dragging them towards them to feed or dropping them to other fellow Undead. They tend to move fast, either running or climbing over obstacles in the urge to eat the flesh of the Living._"

The Grappler began moving in lightning speed, just what the Pokédex said it would. Ash put it away and aimed his AR-15, trying to get a bead into the mutated Snivy's neck. He fired around, shooting the Grappler in the neck. It continued on unfazed, let alone noticed the wounds. It charged up to the front police technical and smashed through the window. The driver screamed in agony as the Grappler dug into its meal, blood splashed everywhere as the Grappler ripped body parts off the cop with its vines. The police technical swerved and smashed into a light pole, it sparked and toppled over upon impact.

Mark slammed on the breaks, causing everyone lurched forward. The police technical in the back screeched to a halt in response, quickly getting ready to fight.

Ash began wishing he was dreaming again, he aimed his AR-15 again and fired in two-round burst intervals. He missed the head, but struck the body, and one of the vines. The Grappler pulled away, showing bleeding gums as it turned its attention to Wally. He began firing the M60 at the Grappler, filling it with several holes before two bullets struck its forehead and jaw. The mutated Snivy let out a grieving moan before it flopped on the asphalt in a puddle of black blood.

"Incoming!" said Tesla.

An Undead charged at Mark's technical with the speed of a marathon runner, Ash held his breath and swung his AR-15 around. A few taps of the trigger sent several silenced bullets flying into the Undead's forehead, the zombie dipped and smashed its skull into the side of the car before dropping dead. Ash looked around and saw several more Undead coming out of the buildings, attracted to the gunfire of the light machine guns. The machine gunner in the back police technical fired a 3-round burst at the zombies, scoring successful headshots.

Cilan and Brock raised their submachine guns and tried to assist the best they can, they fired their suppressed M3A1's in semi-automatic. Their accuracy was horrible, but they were making some hits. Tesla fared better, he took the domes off several Undead skulls with a 2-round burst of his M3A1 with ease.

Ash pulled the used magazine out of the AR-15 and slipped in a fresh one, then continue firing. Spent cartridge cases flied everywhere as the group held back the onslaught of Undead, within 10 minutes the last of the Undead were extinguished.

"I can't seem to hit them!" Cilan complained.

"Me neither," said Brock, "This gun isn't very good at long-range."

"Try holding your breath," said Tesla, "Works every time. Remember that having a suppressor on your gun hinders the accuracy a little bit. It'll take a while to get some practice, but you shouldn't have any problems taking out Undead at medium-range."

"I'm starting to realize that," said Cilan, his hands trembling from shock, "I . . . I hadn't killed anything before."

"Technically those zombies weren't actually alive," said Wally, "They're stuck between life and death, that's why they're called _Undead_."

"So," Tesla added, "a full death should be two zombie kills. I'm not sure if that counts, but its the best explanation I can come up with right now." He grinned, "Yes people, I'm that smart."

The driver of the front police technical stepped out, his right arm was violently amputated and his stomach disemboweled. His eyes glowed bright red as he let out a moan, Wally swivel the M60 around and fired a single round into the newly Undead's head. He dropped instantly.

"Let's get out of here before more Undead show up," said Wally, "We'll leave the bodies for the sanitation crew to clean up, if they're still around."

"Hopefully still around." Ash muttered.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	27. Ch 27: Persuasion

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXVII_

___Persuasion_

The rest of the trip to the FCPD headquarters went smoothly, though everyone was shaken up, especially with the encounter with another mutant Pokémon. Ash recalled seeing so many electric-type Pokémon from his last visit to Faraday City, now he couldn't find a single one among the survivors of the city. Where had they all gone? Did the Undead get them, or were they simply recalled into their Poké balls?

And where in the world did that Grappler came from? Obviously it wasn't a local, maybe a Pokémon of a tourist from Unova. Were there more of them? How many mutations were there gonna be?

The buildup of so many questions made Ash's head numb, he had an urge to get them all answered. But who would answer them?

"Crap," said Mark, "Massive car accident here, we'll have to take another way around."

Ash looked up and saw several cars smashed into each other around a traffic light. The cars were totaled, no way they'll run again. It blocked all lanes of traffic on both sides, it was so bad that it was impossible to pass on foot.

As Mark made a turn, Ash decided to take the time reloading his AR-15 magazines. He took off his backpack and got out a couple of boxes of 5.56mm ammunition, Ash pulled the used magazine out of his weapon and began reloading it with fresher rounds. He pulled the bolt back and ejected the bullet, then stuck that back into the magazine before sliding the bolt back.

He then loaded the 5.56mm rounds into the empty magazine, after making sure the rounds were pointed the right way he slipped it back into the AR-15 and turned the safety back on. Ash put the boxes of ammunition back into his backpack before pocketing the magazine, finally he put his backpack back on and sat back to relax.

"Already you know what you're doing," Tesla commented, "That's good, maybe Emmett would trust you with a weapon in this new world."

"Had your trainer ever trusted you with a gun?"

Tesla laughed, "He _trained_ me to use a gun, I can tell you that firearms were a lot better than Pokémon battling. With a good enough sniper rifle and scope, I can hit targets up to 4 kilometers away. Irvin's going to know all those lessons had paid off when we take his head clean off, if he ever remembers teaching me firearms. I doubt it though."

Within minutes, the FCPD headquarters loomed over the group. Ash felt at awe when he saw it, even though he had been here before when the world was normal. This police station was built like a fortress, at least 10 stories tall and the with and length of a large high school. Every single 1st floor window was boarded up and completely dark, but the rest of the floors were lit up. With all the lights on in the city, things felt like they're under control and hope of the return to normal life glowing brightly.

Mark drove the technical up to the parking lot, completely walled off by a 4 meter concrete wall and an electric gate. The guard opened the gate for them and the group drove in. Once inside the station walls, Mark parked the technical and killed the dual engines. Several cops in SWAT uniforms comes walking in and approached the group, their AR-15's pointed upwards and in a position to open fire when necessary. When Mark stepped out of the car, he held up his hands to show he wasn't armed. Though he had an AR-15 strapped on his back and a 9mm obviously showing in a holster.

"Mark," said one of the SWAT officers, "You managed to make it through the apocalypse in one month?"

"So far without becoming somebody's dinner," said Mark, "How's my old man and his old man?"

"They're doing fine, your grandfather is upstairs working on something but your Dad's out running an errand for a moment. He'll be back soon."

"Why are you here?" another SWAT officer asked.

"I have an old friend that wished to speak to him about a personal issue."

Tesla came crawling up and jumped on Mark's shoulder, "Hello old friends."

"Tesla f*cking Westinghouse," the cop swore, "He's back and he's still alive!"

"And still kicking," said Tesla, "I swear getting shot by you guys was a lot better than getting chased by zombies."

The SWAT officer looked up at the M60, "Wally?"

"Hello," said Wally as he got down from the machine gun, "It's been a while."

"How are things in Carson?"

"We've retaken the Carson Police Station from the Undead, and we got a machine gun out of it."

"Well come on inside, it's cold out here!"

The group were led inside where they already feel at home. The police station was heated, unlike the Carson Pokémon Center which was colder than a brick. Cilan and Brock holstered their M1A3's and relaxed, though they seemed a bit nervous from all the cops watching over them carefully. Even Tesla was nervous, he kept close to Ash as if he was using him as a bodyguard. The group were led to a cafeteria where they were seated, they were offered 2 packages each of Meals Ready to Eat – also known as MREs. Though it wasn't appetizing, eating something was better nothing.

Ash gave Pikachu his set of MREs, the Mouse Pokémon dug into them like a drill. Mark also handed Emolga his MREs, who she finished them off within a minute, "Oddly enough," said Tesla as he nibbled in an MRE labeled _Apples_, "MRE's are my favorite food in my later years, since they provide a quick meal when you need it. Even though they taste like crap."

"Emolga." Mark's Emolga nodded, agreeing with him.

"I wonder if they can do some good trading here," said Mark, "We have some things to barter with."

"I'll go see what I can find out." said Ash.

"Take your time, Ash," said Tesla, "Here's some advice when trading: Get something comfortable and practical. You want to improve your quality of like in times like this, so upgrade your weapons and get some better gear."

"I'll go with you," said Mark, "I know where the armory is, the quartermaster should be the one doing the transactions."

"Show the way, Mark." said Ash.

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

"We'll check out a few things," said Cilan, "We'll turn up when the Chief of Police is back."

"I'll go wait for Emmett to show up," said Wally, "I want to ask him about getting my paycheck in ammunition, or maybe some money adjusted from the hyperinflation."

"Good luck on that," said Tesla, "Mark, Ash, I'm going with you. I do not wish to be left alone around former enemies and bounty hunters."

"Still paranoid about the FCPD?" Mark asked.

Tesla jumped up on Mark's shoulder, "Been paranoid longer than you've been alive. How old are you anyway?"

"Almost 19 years old."

"Damn, I thought you were younger."

Mark shrugged, "That's what everyone says."

As half the group went off to do their own thing, Mark led Ash down to the basement. The trainer heard several gunshots from the firing range in the next room. The sounds made him and his Pikachu jump, but Mark and Emolga remained calm. He opened a door and let Ash stepped in first. There the quartermaster was, sitting behind his desk with the vault door opened wide behind him.

The quartermaster was a large man wearing only a Kevlar Vest, police uniform trousers, and combat boots. He sat back in his chair with his legs kicked on the desk, watching the duo walk in.

"So," said the quartermaster, "are you interest in buying?"

"What do you have for sale?" Mark asked.

The quartermaster sat up and glared at Mark with bright blue eyes, then smiled, "The finest hardware in Faraday City."

"We're fine on guns," said Ash, "But what about gun attachments?"

The quartermaster laughed, "We have more gun attachments than guns itself, the most popular right now are suppressors. We keep running out of the damn tubes that our mechanics use to custom-make them. The zeds out there like sound so much that they go to the _exact _spot where it occurred, it blows my mind on such accuracy!"

"Speaking of accuracy," said Ash, "Do you have anything to improve it?"

"What kind of guns do you have?"

"An AR-15 and a 9mm handgun?"

"The Glock-17?"

"What?"

"He doesn't know much of firearms," said Mark, showing a grin, "He's a Pokémon trainer, not a gun nut like we yokels."

The quartermaster nod from the humor, "Oh I see, we got another beginner. I'll be right back, it will take me just a second."

The quartermaster head to the armory and grabbed a box, he took it back to the group where he sat on his desk and pulled out a red dot sight. This red dot sight was attached to a 9mm handgun slide, he clicked on the sight and handed it to Ash, "Look through that, you'll be amazed."

Ash looked through the square window of the red dot sight, he saw nothing. After shifting it around he finally saw a red dot showing up in the middle of the sight. It moves independently from the lens. Ash held up his hand in front of the sight and looked at it, expecting to see a laser dot. He found none.

"It's refraction technology," the quartermaster explained, "It's just an illusion."

"How much for it?" Ash asked.

"In pokédollars, five-thousand."

Ash's jaw dropped, "Five-thousand!?"

"Pika Pika!?" Pikachu flabbergasted.

"Hyperinflation, kid," said the quartermaster, "You can once buy these sights for 700 pokédollars in normal times. But don't worry, you can barter with it if you have some useful equipment on you."

Ash pulled out the Pokémon guide book and handed it to the quartermaster, "I have this, its very valuable."

The quartermaster opened the cover and saw the signature, "Hot damn," his voice boomed, causing Ash to stagger forward, "Irvin Westinghouse! I'm a huge fan during his hay day!"

"Then how come you haven't say anything to me?" Tesla chirped on Mark's shoulder.

The quartermaster closed the book and his jaw dropped, "Tesla? Holy crap, I didn't notice you since I didn't notice the eye goggles. F*ck, I . . . You . . . I mean-"

"Just spit it out." Tesla rolled his eyes.

"I'm surprised you survived the Undead outbreak this far," the quartermaster finally say, "Why are you here, back in Faraday City?"

"It's home, that's why."

"But why are you here in the FCPD HQ?"

"I want to talk to Emmy, an old friend. You know, the Chief of Police."

"Last that I recalled, he shot you in the leg."

"We can discuss this later when the Chief comes back, okay?"

The quartermaster nod, "Okay, now . . . where were we? Oh, yes!"

He tuck the book aside into his drawer, "I can offer you a red dot sight for your AR-15 as well."

"Normally I would refuse," said Ash, "but ammunition's worth more than gold."

"Ten-thousand pokédollars a kilo." the quartermaster added.

Ash got out his AR-15 and sat it on the desk, "Here you go."

"It should be a second."

The quartermaster took the AR-15 to the back, as he work in getting a red dot sight installed Ash took out his 9mm Glock and unscrewed its suppressor. He sat it on the desk before trying to remove the gun's slide, it wouldn't budge, "Pull it towards the left." Mark advised.

Ash did so, and the slide came off after some muscle. He handed it to Mark, then picked the slide with the red dot sight and slide it into the grooves of the gun. Ash struggled with it in trying to get it in, a few seconds later the slide clicked into place. He pulled the slide back and released, chambering a fresh round.

"There we go," said Ash, "That should do it."

Ash ejected the magazine, then removed the bullet from the chamber. After making sure the safety was still on, Ash insert the bullet back into the magazine before sliding it back into the gun, "Safety conscious, eh?" Mark noted.

"Emolga?" his shiny sprite Emolga added.

"Yeah, I guess." said Ash as he screwed his suppressor back onto the Glock.

"You learn fast, Ash," said Tesla, "Remember what got you here."

Ash aimed the gun at the floor to check the sight, the reticle takes the place of the iron sights. He was surprised to find there weren't any iron sights on the slide, Ash realized the red dot sight was built into the slide when it was manufactured. When the quartermaster came back in, Ash holstered the pistol before he got back his AR-15. The red dot sight on the assault rifle was larger than the one on the pistol, at least the gun still had its original iron sights.

"There you go," said the quartermaster, "That should help you save some ammunition."

"Thanks, sir." said Ash.

"I got two .32 caliber pistol magazines," said Mark, he fished out the magazines Ash found earlier and slapped them on the desk, "I would like to trade these for 2 9mm handgun ones."

"Anything else?" The quartermaster asked.

Mark pulled out the 1 pokédollar coins out of his pocket and drop them on the counter, "Five silver coins, each at least 95 percent silver. How much does that worth?"

The quartermaster inspects the coins, "Hmm . . . in the hyperinflated pokédollar – 500 at most."

"5 clips of .22 short sub-sonic and a 30 shells of .12 gauge slugs, plus a sight for my Glock-17, my AR-15, and a .22 Ruger."

The quartermaster tapped his chin with his finger, "That's a bit much, I think I need one more item."

Mark pulled out a Snickers bar from his backpack pocket and dropped it on the desk.

"Deal!" the quartermaster blurted out, pointing his index finger straight up at the ceiling with a wide grin on his face.

As the quartermaster went back to the armory to fetch Mark's requested supplies, Ash gave him a look and asked, "Where did you get the Snickers bar?"

"Had it in the glove compartment of my Snickers bar the entire time," said Mark, "I forgot I kept candy in my car."

Emolga giggled, she obviously knew Mark had candy all along.

The duo spent the next 20 minutes figuring out their new gear, Ash managed to find a workbench and cleaned his AR-15. Mark helped him a long, making sure he got just enough oil to get everything lubricated and cleaned. Ash reassembled his weapon and left the quartermaster's office, who was beginning to eat the Snickers bar with glutenous eyes.

Mark followed him back upstairs where they sat down in the lobby, Ash held Pikachu close and stared at the corner of the room. He heard whispers and some chatter in the other rooms, but they were so muted that he couldn't understand the words. No one wasn't talking every loud, maybe it was a habit learned with combating the Undead. Noise, the Undead were always attracted by noise.

"So Faraday City is doing better after all," said Mark, "But the rest of the island however, is still in the dark. The only reason why there's still some remnants of society here was because of the power, and my Dad's efforts to keep law and order in place. I don't wish to know how many rules and laws he broken to keep everybody's sh*t together."

"Maybe they have running water." Ash suggested.

Mark lit up, "Let's go see!"

"Emolga!" Emolga cheered.

Mark shot off the chair and head to the nearby water fountain, Ash remained seated and watched as Mark pressed the faucet button . . . Nothing.

Ash and Pikachu broke down laughing as Mark shook his head, clearly holding back a smile, "Eh," he shrugged, "It's still a good try."

"Emolga." Emolga muttered in dismay.

"Look on the bright side Emolga, they might still have toothpaste here."

Ash looked around and notice Tesla had vanished, again. He got up and looked down the hallway, he wasn't there either, "Where's Tesla?" Ash asked.

"I'm not his keeper," said Mark, "Besides, that Pikachu's old enough to take care of himself. The last that I'd seen him was downstairs, had we left him there or . . ."

Tesla strolled in on his hind legs, appearing quite calm, "Oh there you are," said Ash, "Where were you?"

"Bathroom," said Tesla, "Since there's no running water for the flush toilets, I had to use an alternative."

"Oh who crapped in the trash can!?" a voice boomed from the other side of the buildings.

Tesla snickered and shown a smile, "I love that habit."

Mark and Emolga laughed, but Ash and Pikachu just stood there confused, "I don't get it." he admitted.

"You will some day." said Mark as he pat Ash on the shoulder.

Ash turned his attention back to Tesla, "Tesla?"

"Yes, friend?" said the old Pikachu.

"Had anyone taken notice to your arrival yet?"

"A few people had, especially the cops. Mostly they just left me alone, maybe they had noticed me but chose to kept their thoughts to themselves. Maybe the prime reason was that I keep my mouth shut."

"Or the influx of Pikachus out in the wilderness." Mark added.

Tesla groaned, "I'd forgotten about them, that should explain why no one around here was freaking about seeing a Pikachu anymore. For some reason, I'm beginning to miss those moments."

Wally came rushing into the lobby, his eyes were wide open, "Mark, your dad's finally here!"

"Where is he!?" Mark asked.

"Emolga!?" Emolga cried.

"He's just coming in right now."

Ash and Mark rushed towards the entrance, Chief of Police Emmett Kissinger came in exhausted. He had a beard taking shape on his face and he looked thinner than before, before Ash could say a word Mark ran up to him and gave him a big hug. It snapped Kissinger out of his stupor before he realized his own son was hugging him, "Dad!" cried Mark.

"Mark!" Kissinger blurted out.

"Emolga!" Emolga cried as she hugged Kissinger's head.

"Hey girl," said Kissinger, he pulled Emolga off of him and handed him back to Mark, "Glad to see you guys are okay."

"Emmy!" Tesla cried.

He ran up to Kissinger on all four legs, then jumped right into his arms and gave him a big hug, "Thankfully you're still around!"

"T- Tesla?" Kissinger stammered, "That you?"

"No other Pikachu wears goggles on Faraday Island."

"You know this is the first time you ever let me hold you."

Tesla groaned, "Don't rub it in, live it a while it lasts!"

Mark snickered and stepped back, "The Mouse Pokémon had us come all the way out here just to get to you and grandpa, how is he by the way?"

"Grandpa Matt's fine," said Kissinger, "Had you seen him yet?"

"He's busy at something," Mark stepped next to Ash and pushed him forward, "You remember Ash, right? Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu chirped.

"Nice to see you again, sir." said Ash, extending out a hand.

Tesla jumped down from Kissinger as the Chief of Police shook his hand, "You and your Pikachu lost a lot of weight the last time we've seen you, what are you doing back on Faraday Island?"

"Came back with some friends for something down at Carson," said Ash, "The next day, you know."

Kissinger turned an eye at Tesla, who took a step back. All the other police officers held their breath, waiting for something to happen, "How'd you came back, Tesla?"

"When it happened," Tesla began, "it was chaos. Unova's gone, completely overunned by the Undead. I managed to get a boat and sail all this way back to Faraday Island, since it's the only home I knew. Next I found myself sitting on the roof of an abandoned store as the Undead claw their hands in the air to get to me, then Ash came along. I thought I was a goner there because I was dehydrated from that trip."

Tesla glanced at Mark for a second before returning attention to his dad, "A few hours later, Mark here drove into Carson and riled up half the Undead in the city. He jumped right on the roof of his pickup truck with his two buddies and did a dramatic final stand, the Undead were swarming all around. Ash had to run out there to save him and his friends' asses."

"They popped out of the ground, Tesla!" Mark insisted.

"I know, they were swarming you from underneath."

"Wait a minute," said Kissinger, "What?"

"You figured out that the bites isn't what really makes you turn yet?" Mark asked.

The whole room went silent for a moment, "Mark, I saw it happen on midnight. That entire family got right up and started walking, I called you because of it to get out of dodge."

"And right before I got out of dodge, I stopped by the Faraday City Cemetery. I had a hunch that I might find a clue to the Undead outbreak there. But just before I even set my foot past the gate, graves popped open and dead people crawled out. One of them bit Henry's Raichu before the Walkers were able to swarm us."

"Henry and Carley are alright?"

"At the Carson Pokémon Center, holding down the fort."

"What you did in the cemetery was stupid, but did you find anything over there?"

Mark frowned, "Dad, I saw grandma come crawling out of a hole and chase me like a demon. I was literally trying my best to not sh*t myself."

Kissinger took a step back and ran his hands through his hair, couldn't believe his ears, "Holy sh*t, it get's worse everyday."

"4 generations of our family came back," Mark finishes, "They were locked onto me, more interested in skinning me alive than the other zombies. I made sure it was fast for grandpa, but the others are still roaming out there."

Tesla groaned, "Idiot." he muttered under his breath.

Kissinger turned back to Tesla, "So why are you here?"

"Faraday City cemetery," said Tesla, "I need your help."

"With what?"

"I need your help in making sure Irvin doesn't come back."

Kissinger stepped back and looked away for a moment, the whole room went silent for a full minute. Mark soon broke the silence, "I'd already discussed this with Tesla."

He turned towards his son, "What was your decision?"

"I won't help him if you won't. I only came because Irvin's family, he's grandpa's closest friend."

"Irvin was there when you were born, Emmy," said Tesla, "I was there. We were all there when your own mother snuggled you in her arms, now she lays on the ground rotting and your other diseased family members roaming the graveyard searching for their next meal. That cemetery is cursed, it _must _be taken care of."

"That cemetery is also filled with your victims during your outlaw years, I suppose you have an explanation for that!"

"All because Irvin died!" Tesla raised his voice, "All because of everybody's greed! For f*ck sake, if I hadn't boost your career from all the trouble you went through to get my pardon, no one would've saved Faraday City from being swarmed by the Undead when the world went to sh*t! There wouldn't be law and order in this city if it weren't for you, I gave you that sense!

"I pretty much inspired almost every cop to sign up for the FCPD so they can claim that damn bounty on me, and even catch me so I could be their Pokémon. My actions and the lives lost because of them enabled you to save most of this city from the Undead, all of it happened because Irvin died! He died, right in front of me! Right in front of your father! In front of everybody! And because of him, his reputation made sure that our damn fans would try to get a hold of me!

"I didn't want any of that crap, you know that. Family is what really matters, not the reputation built up by Irvin. Why do you think I never let you hold me when you were a boy? Why do you _even _think I never let you hold me during your adolescence. Why don't you even think I killed your son's Magnemite and kidnapped his Emolga?

"I was angry, I was angry long before you were even born. Angry that the family I grew up with was taken away from me! Angry that I was ripped out of my mother's arms. Angry because they had all passed away and I'm not even there," Tesla's face dropped and he sniffled, "I realized the family that had made everything better too late, and now all that anger is replaced by fear. I'm scared out of my mind, Emmy. I'm at advanced age and people and Pokémon don't just die anymore."

"They turn into something sinister."

Everybody shot a look across the room and saw Matt Kissinger walked in, he moved his aging frame and approached Tesla. The old Pikachu had broken down in tears, he whimpered under his breath as he sat there. Ash realized that Tesla was broken, all those decades of stress had finally done him in.

Matt picked him up and cradled him in his arms, Tesla held tightly to him and cried softly into his shoulder. He gave Kissinger a soft look, then nod, "Irvin's a childhood friend, helped Irvin in getting Tesla to warm up to him, and eventually to me," Matt readjusted Tesla's goggles and stroke his head, the old Pikachu closed his eyes and relaxed, "I named him, I fixed his sight. He didn't want his celebrity status from Pokémon battling, nor did he wanna be on TV. Course, he enjoys the attention but he enjoys our unconditional love more."

"Son," Matt finally said, "It is time we pay Tesla back, and put the past to rest. Once and for all."

Kissinger sighed and glanced at Tesla, "My wife always liked him, and mom always liked him a lot . . . okay, let's get this over with."

"Thank you." Tesla muttered.

Kissinger turned towards his fellow police officers, "Get the cars ready and get your guns, we're going on a little road trip."

The cops scattered as Kissinger went off to supervise them, as they all got ready Mark whispered in Matt's ears, "You heard everything?"

"I heard everything, Mark," said Matt, "I heard everything."

"Here," said Ash, "Let me take Tesla, we might leave soon."

Matt held Tesla away, "I'm going with you guys, I may be old but Tesla's older. I best see this through with Tesla."

Emolga sobbed under her breath, probably touched from Tesla's short and sporadic speech, "Don't worry, Emolga," reassured Mark, "Things will be alright."

Matt finally placed Tesla in Ash's arms, "From the way I see it: If it weren't for you Ash, Faraday Island would've been a more darker place when the world ended."

"If you weren't on that bus where I met you," said Ash, "The island would be a darker place still."

"Now if Tesla were younger, you could be his trainer. "

"I would've just let him decide for himself, if he either wants to be released back into the wild or join me in my journey."

The elder Kissinger smiled and said sarcastically, "Now how am I not surprised?"

Cilan and Brock came walking in, they seemed surprised, "Everybody's moving all around suddenly," said Cilan, "What's going on?"

"We're going to put Irvin Westinghouse down," said Ash, "Tesla's request had been answered."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	28. Ch 28: Get Back In Your Hole, Trainer!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXVIII_

_Get Back In Your Hole, Trainer!_

"Ash," said Tesla, "There's something I gotta tell you."

Ash readjusted in his car seat as Mark drove the technical down the main road, following an escort of police technicals. Their warning lights flash brightly, but their sirens remained off. Whoever got the message backed off the roads and away from the windows, its police business after all. Ash looked at Tesla as Pikachu and Emolga looked on, a bit worried about Tesla's sanity, "What is it?" Ash asked.

"Over the years, I made a bunch of friends. A hundred of them. Irvin and I often go out into the wilderness of various regions and steal Pokémon eggs, which we then raise and train after they were born. These Pokémon were the most loyal you can make them, more loyal than your Pikachu or any Pokémon you ever had. They'll do pretty much about anything, even if the task kills them. They'd became known as the Westinghouse Army."

"Wow," said Mark, "A hundred Pokémon strong, amazing."

"I'd seen many of these Pokémon hatch from their eggs and eventually pass away," Tesla continued, "Either it was from old age or a training accident, Irvin had them all buried at their very own cemetery. It's not far from here. If we have time, and if we survive this cemetery clean up, we can train your Pokémon their on how to take out their Undead variants. Besides, my old friends owe me a few favors anyway."

"Stealing Pokémon eggs?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"Best start them when they're young. Irvin train them so well that they won battles most of the time, if they lost they figure out what they'd done wrong and try to correct it next battle. You see Ash, these Pokémon see failure as a death certificate. It was horrible. Irvin trained them how to survive in the wild, build a shelter, find food and water, all of that. Even how to use firearms. His philosophy is that if you engage in a Pokémon battle, you best win. Otherwise failure would be the end of you. These training methods made sure he became Pokémon Master and help maintain that position."

Mark chuckled, "If Irvin was alive, and he were to see this Undead outbreak. What do you think his reaction would be?"

"Much like yours," said Tesla, "He had done some research on the Undead, so he might keep his cool. But at some point, I bet he would sh*t himself.

Tesla thought for a moment, "All the other Pokémon would be determined to survive this nightmare, I just wonder about the remaining Westinghouse Pokémon that were still alive. I bet they would have no problems putting down their trainers when it comes to it, since Irvin was the only trainer he would ever let into his heart. How ironic, since every day of their lives with Irvin was just training. Fun and play, they were carved in a way so it would be like training. It you would see this, it would remind you of military school."

"Everyday?" Ash asked.

"Everyday," said Tesla, "Till the end."

The convoy pulled off the main road and onto a gravel one. It lead into a huge swath of trees, stripped bare of leaves from winter. The sun was near the horizon, within a few hours night would fall upon Faraday Island. Hopefully Tesla's problem would be taken care of before the day was out.

Ash relaxed in his seat and glanced at his Pikachu, he stared out the window trying his best not to get car sick. He wondered what Pikachu was thinking of. Maybe the only thing on his mind was the Undead, was that the main concern on this island now? Ash glanced at Mark's car stereo and CB radio, he wondered if there was anything on the air. He unconsciously reached out and turned the car's stereo on, it automatically tuned in to an FM channel. All that was on the channel was static, just radiation background noise.

"Try the AM frequency." said Mark.

Ash changed the frequency to the AM band, he still got static. He flipped through several of the channels until finally he got a clear signal. A human voice came on the air, but it was faint. Ash sat up and tried to dial in on the voice, he managed to nail in on it.

"_I suppose you folks been noticing the sudden drop in food supplies_," the voice said, "_This dirt on this island won't grow much food, and the time of year's bad for it. We already had reports of cannibalism around Kirto and Electron. Looks like we got people eating each other before they turn into the munchies,_" the voice let out a short laugh before he moved on, "_Temperatures going to be around minus 5 degrees Celsius and mostly clear nights, according to OZORT we have Class 3 zombie activity around the southern and middle parts of the island. Faraday City remains at a modest Class 2, but our nearby neighbor Unova sits around Class 4. There could be few-_"

Ash quickly kills the radio before the voice finished, "Hopefully Cilan didn't hear that last part."

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered.

The convoy soon slowed down and made a complete stop, Ash looked up and saw the cast iron fence of the cemetery up ahead. He got out of the car and drew his AR-15, Pikachu perched himself on his shoulder as Mark stepped out. He chambered a round in his AR-15 as Emolga sat comfortably on his shoulder, "It's now or never, Tesla."

The old Pikachu cocked his M3A1 and jumped out of the car, "Let's get this over with."

Cilan and Brock climbed out from the back as Wally got down from the technical, "You sure you can handle this, Tesla?"

"I handled getting shot at," said Tesla, "I can handle this."

The group walked up to the front of the convoy and saw the cemetery itself. Rows and rows of tombstones line up in designated sections as far as the eye could see, it felt like it stretched for kilometers. This was indeed the largest cemetery on Faraday Island, it wasn't much of a final resting place now as it was crawling with a few walking dead. Ash felt scared, he gulped and stepped back. He heard something crunch beneath his foot, Ash looked down and jumped when he saw a skeleton sticking halfway out of the ground.

"That's the zombie that bit Raichu," Mark explained, "He looked worse with the flesh still on."

Ash turned to see several cops armed with shotguns and assault rifles as they approach the entrance. Right in the headlights in front of the convoy was another corpse, laying face down in the middle of the gravel road. The skin had dried and frozen solid from weeks of freezing in the winter air. It looked like what was left of an old woman, wearing a deteriorated burial gown that was now pieces of fabric.

Kissinger approached glance at the body, clutching his Mossberg 500 tightly in his hands. Mark touched his dad in the arm and sighed, "That's grandma," he explained, "Things were a mess the last time I was here."

"We'll rebury her when we get the chance." Kissinger replied.

Matt approached and placed a hand on Kissinger's shoulder, "I loved your mother, Emmett. I know this sad in all, but remember why we're here. Our loved ones had long passed, and what's coming back isn't them. Forget about reburying her, it's too cold for that right now. We'll have her cremated and her ashes stored in an urn. And when my times comes, you do the same."

Kissinger hugged Matt tightly, "I promise."

The old Pikachu approached the gate and stopped before it, he looked off into the distance and watched a zombie walked around. He placed a hand on his chest and stepped back, "This place is cursed," said Tesla, "I can feel it marrow-deep, countless dead lay restless in their graves. Waiting for a tasty meal."

Tesla turned to Ash, "Can you feel it?"

"No." said Ash.

"Pikachu." Ash's Pikachu nodded nervously.

"Emolga." Emolga nodded as well.

"I don't get it." said Mark.

Tesla groaned and rolled his eyes, "Pokémon can sense the Undead are ready to spawn, I don't know how or why but they can feel it. I think it has to do with aura or something, finely tuned to a certain level that could line up with their instincts. Like I said before, our Pokémon had warning of the apocalypse. I only wish we knew what kind of warning it would be."

Mark approached the entrance and stopped before it, "Hmm. If the Undead are ready to spawn . . . "

He stuck his foot through the entrance and held it a centimeter above the ground, almost instantly the earth shook without warning. Mark staggered back and retained his balance. Seconds later, the shaking stopped. Ash's eyes shot wide open when several graves burst open, with dried bony skeletal hands sticking out of them.

"Holy oh sweet Ho-Oh!" Mark cried in a country accent as he crossed his eyes.

The Undead climbed out of the graves with eyes glowing evil red, they let out a moan as they glared straight at their potential meal. The embalming process that preserved them seemed to had paid off, they all looked like victims of starvation. Even the Undead who were probably much older than Tesla, every former diseased body still bore a physical resemblance of their former selves. Though their skin was brown and dried, there was just enough human features left to maybe get an identity check on them.

Well, not that it mattered.

All the cops quickly got into position and took aim at the Undead, the zombies took their time climbing out of their holes and began strutting towards the group on stiff rotten legs – very slowly.

Tesla shot a look at Mark and growled, "You f*cking idiot!"

Mark couldn't help but laugh, "Well, at least we don't have to wait around for something to happen."

Ash watch the Undead approach, unlike the hordes at Carson these Undead were taking their time. They were moving so slow that normal walking pace would be enough to outrun them, Kissinger simply raised up his shotgun and screwed on a large suppressor on it, "Everyone make sure your weapon is silenced," he said, "We don't want to attract Undead from kilometers around, just the ones solely based in this cemetery. Set your assault rifles to semi-auto, take a deep breath before firing. Remember, we have all the time in the world."

Kissinger made the first shot, he cocked his shotgun and took aim at the closest Undead. When he fired, his suppressor made his Mossberg sound like a quick blast of air. Though it was mostly suppressed, it still sounded loud enough to pierce Ash's ears. Did it had to do with the sound barrier or something? The other police officers took it from there and commence firing, concentrating their fire on the heads of the Undead.

Every shot the police fired, Ash could see a puff of black mist explode from a zombie's head before it dropped. Ash raised his AR-15 and crouched, he focused the red dot sight at an Undead furthest away from the rest. He held his breath and fired. A silenced round made the Undead's head whipped back, it fell backwards to the ground as dead weight.

"I'm getting good at this." Ash thought out loud.

Ash shocked himself from that statement. He'd just put down another Undead being, this time he had no sympathy for it. He was beginning to enjoy it, enjoying taking pot shots at zombies who were once human beings and fellow Pokémon. They took many forms, his friends, his friends' Pokémon, and even his Pokémon's own kind. It made him feel sick in his stomach. He didn't know who he was anymore, did he really felt joy from killing that zombie?

A tiny paw tapped the side of his head, "Pikachu!" his Pikachu screamed in his ear.

Ash snapped out of his moment and returned to reality, just in time to see an obese Undead come charging at him. He held up his gun and fired a two-burst shot at its head, one bullet struck the Undead in the jaw as the other struck him above the right eyebrow. It let out a moan-like yelp when it tripped and fell face-first on the ground, it didn't get back up.

"Nice catch, Pikachu." Ash praised.

"Pikachu." the Mouse Pokémon cooed in pleasure, or sounded like it.

More Undead raised from their graves, the cops quickly reloaded their weapons and resumed firing. The 2nd wave had faster zombies in it, and they were more fresher corpses. They looked like they had been dead for a few months, if not years, the Undead jogged with sporadic legs. Flailing their arms around like a crazy on drugs. The cops wasted no time getting bullets straight through the Undead's forehead, brain stem, and red eyes. They fell to the ground as fast as they came out of it.

"There's so many!" a cop cried.

"Where the f*ck is Irvin?" another cop blurted out.

"He should be somewhere deep in the cemetery." said Tesla.

"Keep killing them as long as they keep coming," Kissinger ordered with a booming voice, "Then we'll advance and find Westinghouse's resting place!"

Ash aimed and tried to fire again, but the gun clicked. He ripped out the magazine and stuffed it in his pocket, then slip a fresh one in. He cocked the weapon and fired away, placing careful shots in the domes of the Undead.

Mark crept over to Ash a while crouched down and stopped beside him, his Emolga kept her .22 Ruger focused at the Undead but refrained from firing it, "Hey, Ash," says Mark, "How's that red dot sight doing for you?"

"Fine," said Ash, "Why?"

"I hadn't seen you miss yet."

Ash shrugged, "Luck, I suppose."

Mark shook his head, "I don't think so, you're more calmer than you once were a month back."

Ash placed his hand on Mark's shoulder and squeezed it, "Can we talk about this later?"

An officer ran backwards as he wildly fired his submachine gun, "They're getting too close!"

Several Undead sprung forward and got near the cemetery gate, Ash held up his AR-15 and repeatedly tapped the trigger. Rounds smashed into the zombie's faces and they drop to the ground, Ash held his breath and listened for more shuffling footsteps of the dead. All he heard was the soft whistles from the wind and the murmuring of the police officers, he exhaled and relaxed.

"Move forward," ordered Kissinger, "Be on your guard and watch your feet!"

The group moved into the graveyard without saying a word, they stepped over the bodies of the dead they put down and made their way across. Ash wanted to hold his nose, the smell was putrid as it looked. Cilan wasn't holding out well, he hopped and bounced sheepishly over the bodies as he held his nose, "I think I'm going to be sick!" he winced.

"Wait until you've smelled burned flesh." Mark muttered with a grin.

Cilan got down and spontaneously vomit at the ground, Ash jogged up to him and lend out a hand. His friend took it and got back onto his feet, "Thanks," he gulped, "I'm sorry, I just lost it and-"

"We'll all loose it sooner or later, Cilan," said Ash, "Just know that you did your best to contain most of it."

"Uh, yes. Yes, I will. Um, moving on now."

The group pushed deeper into the Faraday City Cemetery. As they passed the K section, Ash saw several graves with "Kissinger" as its last names. Every single grave had a hole dug through it, going straight to the bottom of whatever horror that lies beneath. Ash looked down into one of the holes, all he saw was pitch black darkness, "So much for my ancestors," Mark shrugged, "How can you even kill the very people who brought you to the world?"

"I don't wanna find out." Ash muttered.

"Pika Pika." Pikachu shivered.

Tesla walked up ahead and tried to get ahead of the group, but Matt pushed him back, "Be patient, Tesla." the elder Kissinger advised.

The old Pikachu nodded and lagged back a bit, already he was overcome with leftover grief from Irvin's first death. Ash tried to imagine what would actually happen when they find the Pokémon Master's grave.

"On second thought," said Tesla, "This is a bad idea."

"All of your ideas are always a bad idea," said Matt, "And they always turned out well in the end."

"Even if it takes decades, or most of a century. I'm getting too old for this."

"So am I, Tesla. So am I."

"Remember back in that car, just a few minutes before Irvin died? Where he was talking about him and me staying at a village and me drinking an entire six pack of beer?"

"I remember."

"He was getting to the part where it was in the middle of the night. I was drunk, close to alcohol poisoning. I felt like I went through a washing machine stuffed with raw sushi and rotten pizza, the worst case of nausea I ever had. And you know what's the worse part?"

"What's that?"

"I needed to go to the bathroom, and it's not to vomit."

"Oh, here we go." Mark blurted.

"This town had no latrines or toilets, which blew my mind. Even though I grew up in the wild, I could had just taken a crap on the ground. But my mind was locked on finding a toilet, since my judgment wasn't available at the time. It never occurred to me that the village well, that looked eerie like a john, wasn't actually a john at all. I hopped on the ledge, bend my little rear over with my tail stuck up high, and dropped a kilogram of last night's spicy chili dog," Tesla snickered before he continued, "dinner in the . . . f*cking well.

Tesla burst out laughing, "It was so loud!"

Mark and Matt burst out laughing, the cops who overheard it snickered and laughed as well. Kissinger turned around and gave Tesla a brief look of disbelief before refocusing the task at hand.

"Irvin stuck a laxative pill in my beer," Tesla yelled so loudly that the dead in their graves might had heard him, "How can you blame me!?"

"Damn, Tesla," Mark laughed so hard that he gasped for air, "You sick bastard!"

Ash finally burst out laughing, and so did Pikachu. Brock and Cilan let out a friendly laugh, then completely burst out laughing. It felt so inappropriate for Tesla to tell a story like that in a cemetery, but everyone needed a moment of relief from this apocalypse.

"A few minutes later," Tesla continued, "One of the villagers needed to take a drink. So they went up to the well, drop the bucket down to scoop up some water, and pull it back up. The poor guy found a big turd floating in the bucket, he took the bucket and barged into the Town Hall where Irvin and I were having a party with the mayor and other town folks. _Someone took a sh*t in the well! _He cried. The mayor took a look inside the bucket and his face was priceless.

"As everyone got a look inside the bucket, Irvin and I remained seated. I sat there nonchalantly, minding my own business, thinking that I would get away with it. And then without warning, one of the village girls took a look inside the bucket and went, _Looks like a turd from a Pikachu_.

"Irvin immediately knew that it was time to hit the road. But just as he got up to bolt for the door, his pants caught the edge of a table and tore it right off his body. He didn't stop to go back for it, he just ran straight out of the village in his underpantsand head for a neighboring town in the middle of the night. That was the last time he ever wore boxers with Pikachus on them."

Everyone burst out laughing again, this time much longer than before, "How did you get out of that village?" Mark asked.

"I took a different route out," said Tesla, "I reunited with Irvin the next day. My trainer, still in his underpants, sat on the front porch of the hotel. He gave me a humorous glare and said, _Damn you, you little sh*t_. I didn't say anything, I just flipped him the bird and that was that!"

"Maybe it was so funny, Irvin had the heart attack from it." Matt suggested.

"Somehow that makes sense, since people hyperventilate every time they heard this story . . . mostly the women."

March snickered, "Tell Carley this once we get back."

"I rather tell her the story where your grandmother stuck your old man's baby clothes on me and snapped a dozen pictures! Hot damn, I was so pissed!"

"Irvin betted 500 pokédollars that you wouldn't shock my wife," said Matt, "Which of course you didn't since you always enjoyed being held by her."

Tesla growled, "Ugh, Irvin laughed the whole time as he watched it happen! I swear I'm gonna . . . Ugh!"

As Tesla steamed and sparked over that thought, Matt whispered in Ash and Mark's ears, "Now when we get to the part where we put Irvin's reanimated corpse down, it shouldn't be as hard on him. Smart move on your part, Mark."

"Yeah," Mark grinned, "I'm a charmer."

Emolga snickered and giggled, "Emolga." she whispered.

Tesla's humor spell broke when more graves erupted with Undead, everybody got back on tract and quickly gunned them down. Most of the Undead couldn't make it on their feet, the few who did wound up taking headshots and drop back down to the ground. It was a brief fire fight for the group, but Ash knew they had yet to see a real fight. He pulled out the AR-15 magazine and checked its ammo content, it seemed to be holding half of its ammo capacity. Ash fished out 5.56mm rifle bullets out of a cargo pants pocket and inserted rounds into the magazine. Once he got around 30 rounds max in the clip, he clicked it back into the assault rifle.

_Thirty rounds in the mag, plus one in the chamber_, Ash thought, _That should be enough if I use the ammo sparingly_.

"There's his resting place," said Tesla, pointing straight ahead, "Right there."

The group approached the grave itself, like all the others it had a classic tombstone to mark it. Ash read the words carved into the granite tombstone, it read:

_Irvin Westinghouse_

_Born: April 1, ****_

_Died: October 31, ****_

_His heart couldn't contain the love._

"Who's idea was it for the quote?" Ash asked.

"Mine," said Tesla, "I originally planned in putting in something that had to do with Halloween, but I forgotten what it was. So I put that quote in since its more appropriate."

"I wondered about that," said Matt, "I didn't say anything about it though."

Kissinger approached the grave, but kept his distance, "I was only a rookie when he died, how long had you been friend's with him?"

"Since I was a kid, I still remember the look on Tesla's face when I first saw him of Irvin's shoulder. He had the look of someone wanting to stay home and sleep in, Tesla was so grumpy at the time."

"Still am," said Tesla, "I still remembered the look on your face when you learned Irvin was missing his right hand, and how it went missing."

"I was one of a few people who told me you blew his hand off with a Thunderbolt."

Cilan's eyes shot wide open, "What!?"

"Long story," said Tesla, "The short version: He put on a rubber glove and held up a copper pipe, told me to give it all I got on it. So I did. Next thing I knew, he landed on his ass with a burned off stub of a right hand. _Oh, that's just a flesh wound. _Flesh wound my ass, blood was squirting out of the arteries as he put on a silly smile! His mom learned what happened and tried to kick me out, so Irvin and I started our journey the next day. It lasted for 45 years."

"What a history." said Matt.

"So," said Ash, "How long do we have to wait for Irvin to come up?"

"I don't know," said Tesla, "But I got a feeling it wouldn't be long, I sense his grave is more disturbed than the others."

The ground shook again, more harder than last time. Ash refrained from using a tombstone to keep his balance, fearing a zombie may pop up and grab him by the ankle. The group struggled to keep their balance, some fell a while others hold firm. Mark managed to keep his balance, yet Brock and Cilan stumbled and fell on their rears. Wally frantically looked around, trying to keep an eye out for more zombies as he struggled to stay on his feet.

Multiple graves burst open. Everywhere Ash looked he saw an Undead crawl out of their graves, all at different stages of decay. Many Undead showed clues to how they died. One zombie had an arm violently ripped off, it looked like it came from a car accident or a slip up with a chainsaw. Another zombie had a hole in the shoulder, Ash could almost see through it. A zombie had a bloody skull, missing several teeth and half a jaw. It looked like someone beat its face in with a blunt object, but not hard enough to destroy the brain.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried as the number of Undead continue to rise.

"This is not happening," said Cilan, "This is not happening!"

"They have us surrounded!" Mark cried.

"Emolga!" Emolga cried.

Kissinger raised his shotgun and cocked it, "Open fire!"

The police officers began firing away at the Undead from all directions, several Undead continue to drop but more rose from their graves. Ash fired away at several Undead, his rounds scored several head shots. Ash missed one of the Undead, it ran on its bony dried legs and charged at him in blind rage and desperation. He held up the butt of his AR-15 and smashed it into the zombie's jaw. It gave off a loud crack, the Undead tumbled backwards and smashed its head against a tombstone. Blood splattered all over the tombstone, the zombie softly gurgled as it smeared its bloody skull towards the ground.

Ash aimed his gun and fired a round into the Undead's skull, just to make sure.

"Behind you, Ash!" Tesla cried.

Ash spun around and saw another zombie charging at him, he fired a round and struck it in the neck. The zombie dropped to the ground, Ash managed to jump back in time when its jaw nearly gnashed its hand, "That's a close one." he muttered to himself.

The zombie was still _alive_, gnashing its jaw as it tried to move its now paralyzed body. Ash raised his foot and stomped on its head, crushing the zombie's skull and splattering its rotten brains all over the grass.

_PHOOMPH!_

Ash was knocked to the ground with a hard blow, sending Pikachu tumbling to the ground and slam against a tombstone. Before Ash could figure out where he was, another zombie was on top of him. Its red eyes and decaying skin was more horrifying up close and personal, the zombie pinned him down and attempt to take a bite out of Ash's shoulder. He shot a hand and grabbed it by the neck, holding the Undead back. It snarled and gnashed its exposed teeth, flailing its arms around in a mad man.

The trainer looked around in search for his gun, it laid just 3 meters away. It was out of reach, and impractical in this situation. Ash couldn't reach for his gun, the suppressor plus the Undead in the way prevented him from drawing it. He felt his strength zap away, the Undead leaned ever closer. It wasn't that far now from sealing Ash's fate. He used both hands and thrust the zombie back again, his muscles began to sprain as the Undead's superhuman strength began to take effect.

"Pikachu," cried Ash, "Help!"

He wondered where his Pikachu was, Ash looked around as he held the zombie back. There he was, laying unconscious against the tombstone with spirals in his eyes. Ash looked around for other sources of help, the other police officers were too preoccupied with the zombies. His friends were too far away to help, they tried their best in keeping the Undead back. Mark was busy trying to reload his assault rifle as a train of Undead formed behind him, he ran as fast as he can with Emolga hanging onto his chest.

"You got to be kidding me!" Ash thought out loud.

Ash turned towards the Undead a final time, he stared into the bright red eyes and into the faded pupils. The Undead's breath was so rancid that Ash wished he had a moment to vomit, "I can't hold him back much longer!" he thought out loud.

A bullet burrowed straight through the Undead's temple and exited through the other one, killing the zombie instantly. Ash shoved the corpse off of him and sat up, breathing a sigh of relief, "Ash!" cried a familiar voice.

He turned and saw Tesla running towards him on his hind legs, holding his M3A1 in his hands, "Are you alright," he cried, "Are you bit!?"

"No," said Ash, "I'm fine, but Pikachu . . ."

Ash rushed over to Pikachu and picked him up, "Pikachu," he cried, "Are you okay!?"

Pikachu stirred and blinked, "Pikachu," the Mouse Pokémon muttered under its breath, "Pika Pika."

"Ash," cried Mark as he rushed up, "What happened!?"

Ash stood up and held Pikachu close, "Pikachu hit his head on one of the tombstone, we need to get him out of here!"

"We don't have time for that. Here, I'll shove him in your backpack and we can carry on, we'll worry about him later!"

"Okay, here!"

Ash handed Mark his Pikachu, he shoved the Mouse Pokémon into Ash's backpack and closed it up, "Remember where he is." Mark advised him.

A bomb went off somewhere nearby, everyone spun around to the source. No, it wasn't a bomb. Another grave had ruptured, but not any ordinary grave. It was Irvin's grave. A metal cybernetic hand covered in thick rust stuck out of it, followed by a bloody skeletal head with a head full of white – and seemingly healthy – hair. When the corpse of what used to be Irvin Westinghouse fully came out of his grave, he towered over Ash and Mark like a giant.

The Undead Westinghouse wore a tattered and deteriorated tan tweet jacket, a brown hoodie, a pair of worn out cargo pants, a pair of thick muddy black boots, and a pair of cracked thin rimmed eyeglasses. He was covered in mud from head to toe from two decades of being in the ground. His skin was long gone, his skeletal muscles completely exposed. His face was barely recognizable from the photos Ash had seen of him alive. He sort of emanate a thin cloud of smoke-like fog off of his body, maybe it was a clue from what was controlling his corpse.

Tesla stood there, petrified in fear. His eyes bulge inside his eye goggles, his hands shook so much that he dropped his submachine gun. The old Pikachu made no attempt to reach for it, he was too locked in shock from seeing his trainer again.

Irvin turned his skeletal head towards the group, popping the joints in his neck. Ash and Mark stood there, also in shock. Emolga hanged on to Mark, her voice was caught from fright.

"_The world loves you, Tesla._" Irvin quoted in an eerie monstrous voice, it sounded so inhuman that it might had come from another world.

_That's not Irvin's voice. _Ash thought when he remembered what Irvin really sounded like on his and Tesla's home videos.

"This is much worse than I had thought!" Tesla croaked.

Irvin raised up his rusted prosthetic hand and clamped it into a fist, it gave off a loud cling as the fingers crunched towards the palm. He then charged at the group, aiming his iron fist at them as he took on speed. Ash jumped out of the way, but Mark was too slow. Irvin punched him in the gut so hard that it send the junior Kissinger airborne, seemingly halfway across the graveyard.

"SSSSHHHH******************TTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Mark screamed at the top of his lungs.

Mark slammed into the trunk of a dead tree, he hit it so hard that the tree snapped in half as he flopped to the ground, "Ow, damn it!" Mark let out a humorous cry.

Ash grabbed his AR-15 and aimed it at Irvin, the former Pokémon Master swung its iron fist at him but he dodged it in time. Irvin growled in a deep voice and swung again, Ash dodged. He flipped his AR-15 to fully-automatic, he aimed at Irvin's torso and held down the trigger. Multiple bullets shredded into him like Swiss cheese, the Undead Westinghouse stumbled back and managed to catch his balance in time.

Before Irvin could regain his stiffened balance, Ash ran across the graveyard and dodged several tombstones and zombies. The police were finally getting the upper edge, but just barely. Though there were no more zombies spawning, there were still so many that it felt like a real war zone. Ash managed to rush up to Kissinger, who struggled to reload his shotgun. He tried to insert a shell into the reload chamber, but it slipped from his hands. Kissinger slammed the shotgun to the ground in frustration and drew his 9mm Beretta. After screwing on a suppressor to the barrel, he continued firing away.

"Where's Mark?" Kissinger asked Ash.

"Mark's down!" Ash cried.

Ash pointed towards the broken tree, where Mark was getting back to his feet. Several zombies past him, but strangely ignored him. He carried an unconscious Emolga with one hand and held up a pistol in the other, he leaned against the broken tree as he took careful aim at the Undead. He appeared hurt, though he didn't show any signs of broken bones.

"Mark," cried Kissinger, "Damn, what-"

Kissinger stopped short when he saw Irvin charged at one of the police officers, the cop aimed his shotgun at Irvin's chest and fired. A slug round punched through him and toppled the zombie over, as the cop ran away Irvin got back on his feet and started chasing another cop. That cop tried to get a bead at Irvin's head, but tripped and fell backwards.

"Son," said Matt as he strutted up, "What happened?"

"An old friend of ours." Kissinger simply replied.

Matt noticed Irvin chase Wally across the graveyard, the police officer held up two pistols and firing them spontaneously at Irvin. The cowboy tactic wasted most of the shots or didn't it their mark, Irvin sucker punched Wally in the chest with his iron fist and knocked him to the ground. The zombie got down to his knees and grabbed Wally by the throat with his rusted fist, Wally's face went red from his airway being cut off. Irvin then slowly raised him towards his exposed mouth.

"Sh*t, Wally!" cried Kissinger.

Matt jogged up and held up a pistol, taking aim at his old friend.

"Dad," cried the Chief of the FCPD, "Don't!"

"Irvin!" Mark yelled across the cemetery.

Just when Irvin was about to take a bite out Wally, he heard Matt's voice, "Rhmm?" he let out a confused groan.

He turned towards Matt with a curious stare, Ash could see Irvin's expression quickly change. He released Wally from his death grip and got up, as the cop took in a gasp of air Irvin started strutting towards Matt snarling along the way.

Matt took aim with his pistol and held his breath, "I'm sorry, friend." he said as he pulled the trigger.

_Click._

"Crap," Matt cursed, "Out of ammo!"

Ash felt something zipped past his feet, he looked down and saw Tesla grabbing Kissinger's shotgun and the shell. The old Pikachu jammed the shell into the gun and cocked it, he then unscrewed the suppressor and tossed it aside. Now ready, he turned towards Irvin and let out a loud ear-piercing whistle that everyone in the cemetery heard it.

The whistle caught Irvin's attention almost immediately. He screeched to a halt and turned towards Tesla, Ash stepped away from the old Pikachu and pulled Kissinger back.

The old Pikachu held his ground, breathing hard as the shotgun shook in his hands. He was scared, terrified, and completely demoralized. Ash also saw something in Irvin's face and eyes. It wasn't the same interest he showed when he saw Matt, or any other human being whatsoever. It wasn't raging hunger, nor blind rage. It was more . . . softer, of some form. His face, almost looked like it was showing dread.

Never before had Ash saw a zombie when from completely aggravated to passive in a blink of an eye, the bond that the two had was long gone but the relationship was still just as strong. Even though Irvin pisses of Tesla all the time during their years together.

Tesla sighed and flipped the safety off, Irvin let out a soft moan that was barely audible. The zombie relaxed his skeletal hand, yet his iron one was forever locked in a fist. The old Pikachu's expression instantly changed from sympathetic fear to fierce determination. He aimed the shotgun at Irvin and barked with a loud voice, "Get back in your hole, Irvin!"

_BOOM!_

The top of Irvin's head exploded, spraying black brain matter into the air like a geyser. Irvin staggered on his feet for a few seconds before falling flat on his back, he hissed his last breath before going dormant for good.

There was a lot of noise in the graveyard, multiple zombies moaned almost at once as silenced puts and clicks of assault weapons, shotguns, and handguns rang about. But the unsuppressed shotgun blast silenced them all, the air returned to a eerie quiet state. Ash looked around and saw all the zombies had been neutralized, the police officers all stood in a stupor as they looked on at Tesla.

The old Pikachu dropped the shotgun and approached his trainer's body, he got on his knees and stared at it for a long while. Kissinger picked up the shotgun and reattached the suppressor, then fished out some more shotgun shells from his pocket so he could load the weapon.

Matt and Ash approached Tesla as he silently mourned. He didn't cry, nor shed a tear. Tesla just sat there, trying to get a closure from his lost loved one. Well, he was already long gone. Tesla just made sure he rested in peace.

"Well, Ash," the old Pikachu said, "You've always brought sunshine into my life, I guess this part of my past can now finally rest. Thanks for helping me get this far, I wouldn't had done it without you."

Matt got down and placed a hand on Tesla's shoulder, "What happened back there?"

"Irvin recognized me," said Tesla, "I had been with him most of the time in the past 70 years. What you'd just saw, was more than half a century of friendship. Not to mention the realization that the bond was broken, I suppose he retained enough of his memories where his superego suppressed his Undead cravings when he saw me. Would you feel upset when you know that you'll finally get peace?"

"It's hard to imagine." said Ash.

"Don't try to imagine, just put it aside and don't think about it. I'll feel better if you don't have sympathy for me because of this, this is something we must let go and move on. Besides, Irvin's already gone a long time ago. All that was left was a corpse filled with built-in habits."

Tesla got back on his hind legs and looked up at Ash, "I owe you my life, Ash. Normally I wouldn't join your group since I fear that you may be corrupted. But in this world, that's impossible."

The old Pikachu turned to his dead trainer and sighed, "Well, I served Irvin well. Now he's going to return the favor. I do recall that they buried him with something."

"Buried him with what?" Ash asked.

"A tool, it had to be attached to his belt."

Tesla pulled Irvin's tweet jacket aside and got a view of his belt, "First I put him down, now I'm looting his corpse. If this isn't recycling, I don't know what is."

Ash noticed something attached to Irvin's belt, it was a slim and long black pouch, "Is it that right there?"

"Yup," said Tesla, "This should be a second."

Tesla undid Irvin's belt and pulled it out, he then handed it to Ash and smiled, "It saved Irvin's life more than once, and you won't sleep without it. Here you go."

Ash held up the pouch and saw something sticking in it, he grabbed the handle and pulled it out. It was a hunting knife, 14cm long and razor sharp. It was in good condition, despite being buried deep in the ground for 20 years. Ash gripped its black handle and placed it back in the holster, then looked down at Tesla, "Thanks," said Ash, "I hope I don't have to use it for anything dirty."

"It might be a bit dull," said Tesla, "We can sharpen it when we get back. By the way, where's Mark?"

"I'm right here!" he called out from the distance.

Mark came walking up, slightly limping on a leg. Emolga sat on his shoulder, just as beat up but quite fine, "Nothing's broken or sprained, but I feel sore all over. But at least this moment made it worth all the trouble we went through."

He held up an HD camera, Tesla frowned at the sight of it, "You've been standing there, videotaping everything?"

"I started recording when Irvin was chasing Wally," said Mark, "I stopped when you handed Ash the knife. You know, I think we're done in this place. I suggest we get out of here before the Undead return in greater numbers."

Matt got up and hugged Mark, "Mark, you be careful next time."

"I will if there's some people around with me, its impossible to _be _careful when on your own. There's just so much to pay attention to. By the way, did you see me get awesome air when Irvin sucker punched me? How far did you think I fly?"

"75 meters," said Tesla, "Scream level 80 decibels, dumb ass level 150 percent."

"Eh, fair enough."

Kissinger and Wally approached the group, Wally had an arm over the Chief of Police's shoulders to support him. They took a good look at the body and shook their heads, "We have some body bags in the car," said Kissinger, "We'll clean up shop here for you guys, you should get back to the Carson Pokémon Center. We'll take it over from here."

"Thanks for giving us your support," said Tesla, "Hopefully we don't have any casualties in clearing out this graveyard."

"Just a few got dinged up from the Undead, but nothing serious. Oh, and Mark?"

"Yes, dad?" Mark asked.

"How in the world did you survive crashing into the tree?"

Mark pulled up his hooded sweater and showed his dad the Kevlar vest, "Body armor, had been wearing it since Hour 3 of the apocalypse."

"Emolga!" Emolga chirped.

"Your Sky Squirrel's okay?" Kissinger asked.

"She's fine," said Mark, "I took most of the blow when I broke the tree."

Cilan and Brock soon arrived, they glanced at the corpse and stared at it for a moment, "Is he dead?" Cilan asked.

"Deader than the head of a nail," said Tesla, "He's not coming back anytime soon."

Brock handed Tesla his M3A1, "Tesla, you dropped this back there."

Tesla took the gun and cocked it, "Thanks, I'd been wondering where it went."

"Can we go back to the Pokémon Center now?" Cilan asked.

"Let's get out of here," said Ash, "By Emmett, we'll try to keep in touch with you on the CB radio."

Kissinger shook Ash's hand and nod, "Keep an eye on my son. Even though he's much older than you, your common sense is more fine tuned than his."

"I'll make sure he doesn't get bit without me knowing."

"I thought that was my job." said Wally.

Kissinger let go of Wally, the cop managed to stand on his own as he stretched his limbs, "Let's go guys," he said, "I had enough of this place."

Just as the group returned to the convoy, Kissinger and Matt remained behind to coordinate the cleanup. The police officers began putting on gloves and carrying bodies over to a pile, maybe to prep them for a mass burning. When Ash got back to Mark's technical, he sat in the passenger seat and took off his backpack. Pikachu stuck his head out of it with sleepy eyes, cooing softly upon seeing him, "Pikachu?" he muttered.

"You okay, buddy?" Ash asked.

"Pika." the Mouse Pokémon nod his head.

Ash took Pikachu out of his backpack and held him in his arms, the trainer sat his AR-15 aside and relaxed in his seat. Mark got behind the wheel and sat there for a moment, "I still wish for a hot shower."

"Emolga." Emolga muttered.

"You can say that again." said Ash.

Mark started up the engine when Wally took his spot at the M60 and Cilan, Brock, and Tesla sat in the back. Ash noted the smile on Tesla's face as the old Pikachu sat down and rest against the side of the trunk, he appeared to finally be at peace knowing that his trainer was finally put to rest. All those years of failures, all those years of hardship, everything he accomplished with Irvin, finally printed in the book and shelved for history.

But this was just the tip of the iceberg, there was more to be done.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	29. Ch 29: Beat Them, or Eat Them

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter IXXX_

_Beat Them, or Eat Them_

"You find anything on the radio, Henry?" Carley asked.

"So far nothing," said Henry, "All the FM stations are dead, but I think I got some potential around the AM bands."

The antenna Henry had erected was 7 meters tall, made out of aluminum pipes welded together and braced with strips of steel. There were concerns that it might tip over, but with it bracing the side of the Pokémon Center's roof access hut that shouldn't be much of a problem. Henry had attached wires with alligator clips to the oversized antenna and the small portable radio's antenna, after an hour of searching he was getting something but it was too far out to hear clearly.

"Mark and his friends were gone for over a few hours already," said Carley, "The sun had set and I'm getting worried."

"I'm getting concerned to," said Henry, "I'm not risking my ass to go out in the middle of the night to search for them, the night seemed to get the Undead riled up for some reason."

An Undead howled in the distance, it sounded like a frustrated growl or a loud yawn. It was so distorted that it was hard to tell which was what. Henry looked up out over the roof of the Pokémon Center to take a look, he saw no Walkers or any other survivors. The ground below was dead, no lights or activity. Just an empty stretch of darkness.

"You need any more help, Henry?" Carley asked.

"Nope," said Henry, "I can handle it, you best get some rest cause there's some big plans tomorrow."

"What kind of plans?"

"A neighboring town near Carson fell to ruin. It was far smaller than Carson, which made it easy for survivors to build a wall around it. The wall kept out the Undead, but it also kept them in. Someone lost their sanity and shot up the place before turning the gun on himself, I don't know how many he killed directly but I _do _know that they all reanimated and finished off the rest of the survivors. Nobody was sure if anyone made it out alive, or unhurt."

"Oh gosh," Carley walked towards the stairwell, she stopped at the door and turned, "What kind of world are we living in now, Henry?"

"A world where the line between the land of the living and the dead had faded, becoming one and nothing more."

"Goodnight, Henry."

"Night, Car."

When Carley headed back downstairs, Henry took a look at his radio again. It seemed to be in working order, so if it wasn't picking up anything wasn't the radio's fault. There had to be someone out there, broadcasting something. Other than the police frequencies they kept getting. Sooner or later, the radios would go silent as the apocalypse runs its course to its inevitable conclusion.

Henry detached the alligator clips and took the portable radio back downstairs, he headed for the living quarters and sat the radio on the small table. He glanced at Mark's cot in the back, the covers were neatly draped. A couple of clips of 9mm handgun ammo and a box of .22 short ammo sat underneath the cot, probably they were spare ammo for an emergency.

"An old friend whom I'd been with for so long," Henry thought out loud, "Takes the most selfless action in helping another, who's old enough to be a family heirloom."

"Hey," said a voice, "Hey, you!"

Henry turned around and saw another survivor near the doorway. He had a bright green golf shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and brown shoes. The man's face showed he was somewhere in his late thirties or early forties, to Henry the man was quite familiar, "You're the one who built the radio antenna on the roof, right?" the man asked.

"Yes," said Henry, "It took me a while to put it together, it worked as it should but now the problem is on the other end."

"Are you an expert on radios?"

"No, I'm an expert on welding. I just built it because Mark needed something to increase the range of our CB radios."

The man held up a small hand-held CB radio, "This CB radio has the best technology put into it, if you can attach that antenna to this radio then we might be in business."

"Well, I'm open for ideas. Let's give it a shot."

The man tossed the radio to Henry, he managed to catch it with one hand, "Name's Crawford," said the man, "We haven't met in person but I'm a friend of your boss, at that mechanic's shop you work at. Well, used to work at."

Henry thought for a moment, "I do believe I saw a picture of you in his office, and heard your name on a couple of occasions. You know what happened to him?"

Crawford shook his head, "I think he barricaded himself in the mechanic's shop, not sure what happened to him since."

"You have the cable to make the connection?" Henry asked.

"The what?"

"This CB radio requires a cable of some sort, similar to the one that goes to the TV and the satellite box."

"I think there's some in a room up in the 5th floor, in some boxes."

"Okay then, let's see if there is any."

Henry walked passed Crawford and headed for the stairs, by the time he got to the 5th floor he noticed one of the doors was slightly ajar. Odd, normally doors remained closed in the Pokémon Center, especially in rooms that weren't being used.

"The cables should be in there." said Crawford.

Henry pushed the door open and looked inside, his eyes shot wide open from the horror before him, "What the fu-"

_THUNK!_

A solid metal end of a blunt object smashed into the back of Henry's head, he dropped the CB radio and collapsed on the floor. His vision blurred, the last thing Henry saw was Crawford dropping a hammer and picking up a fire ax leaning against the wall. Just as Crawford held up the fire ax, the world blacked out on Henry.

**. . .**

The trip back to the Pokémon Center felt like an eternity, Ash never felt so tired before in his life. He clutched the hunting knife's holster in his hand as he held Pikachu in the other, Ash jarred him every 5 minutes, just to make sure he doesn't fall asleep. Every time he woke Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon jumped on his lap and shot his eyes open. He didn't say anything, his eyes fluttered till they're almost closed before slipping back into a trace-like state.

Ash held up the hunting knife and stared at it, so this was one of Irvin's most valuable tool. He slipped it slightly out of its holster and examined the edge, the sharpened edge glistened under the glow of the moon's light. Ash slid the knife back in the holster and undid his belt, then strapped the holster to where his left hand could reach it and buckled it in place. Even though Ash was getting used to carrying weapons, something just doesn't feel right.

"How's your Pikachu?" Mark asked.

"Emolga?" Emolga murmured under her breath, probably sleepy too.

"He's doing fine," said Ash, "Though I worry that the bump to his head is more serious, I just don't wanna think about it right now."

"If it was that serious, Ash, Pikachu would had been dead by now. Bleeding in the brain kills you faster than you think. Your Pikachu may be fine but have Nurse Joy look at him, just to be on the safe side. I'm not taking any more chances in the end of the world."

Ash scratched Pikachu's ear, he snuggled on his lap and smiled, "Pika." he cooed.

"Just relax buddy," said Ash, "We're almost there."

The group drove out of the forest and back into Carson. They drove through an abandoned neighborhood, the yards were littered with debris and dead bodies. Some doorways were splattered with blood, others were kicked in to reveal a demolished living room or kitchen. No lights were on, nobody lives here anymore.

Ash got a glimpse of an Undead walking about, it was heading into one of the houses. It didn't even turn to look at the group, its red eyes were locked on that doorway for whatever interests it had inside. In its previous life, did the zombie used to live around here? How fast was it when he turn? _How _did he turn? Did he died or was he bit? Amazing that the Undead plague can spread this fast, because _everyone _was infected.

Damn.

But at least it wasn't that contagious, biting was a horrible way to spread a disease. Maybe there were other ways the disease can spread, _if _it was a disease.

A blast of bright white blinded Ash and Mark quickly slowed the technical, when his eyes readjusted he saw the glow of what looked like . . . a gas station? Ash looked closely at it. No, this wasn't a gas station. The large sign post at the driveway had the words, FUEL on it. Underneath that signs were three types of fuel: H, E-100, and B-100. All the numbers read in three zeros, which was quite strange.

The station's store was also glowing with light, though its windows were intact the interior was stripped clean of any food and supplies. Blood was splattered on the tile floor, indicating there might be some sort of fight that occurred there. Ash looked for any signs of survivors, he saw none.

"These fuel stations make their own power," Mark explained, "Solar panels on the roof of the store and forecourt's canopy, there's also a vertical axis wind turbine on the roof but its out of sight. The ethanol and bio-diesel are probably gone, but the Hydrogen is produced on sight. There might be some remaining, since my Hydrogen tank is completely empty."

Ash turned to Mark, "How did you managed to keep this truck running?"

"It's a hybrid, it runs on either Hydrogen or straight electricity. I'd been running this pickup on electricity for the entire time, I don't have much power left."

Mark pointed to the digital fuel meter, they Hydrogen read zero percent in red numbers and the electricity meter read 15 percent – also in red numbers, "We need to stop and fill this thing up, or else we lose an advantage."

He pulled the car up beside one of the pumps, Ash noticed Mark driving over a blue ring painted on the concrete. Whatever it was, it somehow affected the car because all the lights on the dashboard glowed brighter, "Those rings have conductors underneath," said Mark, "They fire microwaves in a receiver mounted on the bottom of the truck, which would charge the battery. As that charge, I'll see if I can get some Hydrogen in the tank."

"Just be careful." said Ash.

"I will if you cover my back."

"Okay then."

Ash turned towards Pikachu, "Stay here Pikachu, this will be quick."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded.

Mark and Ash got out of the technical and pulled out their weapons, "Why did you stop?" Wally asked.

"Taking advantage of this fuel station," said Mark, "The pickup's almost dead on energy and I'm not walking in the dark. Keep your eyes open, we might have some Walkers following us for all I know."

Mark pressed a button on the pump's touch screen, a small message came up. It read, "_TEOTWAWKI, ALL FUEL IS FREE!_"

"That sums about my luck," Mark laughed, "Let's get this over with."

Mark pressed the Hydrogen button and grabbed its designated nozzle, he opened up the small door and inserted the nozzle into the Hydrogen tank, "Okay, she's filling. Hold off the Undead, this is going to be a while."

Ash flipped the safety off of his AR-15 and peered out into the darkness. Though his night vision was ruined by the brightness of the outdoor lights, Ash could clearly see the pairs of glowing red eyes coming out from the darkness. He held up his gun and took aim with the red dot sight, then fired a few rounds. He managed to take out one Undead, but missed a few shots. Ash tried crouching and holding his breath when aiming the gun, his accuracy increased and he managed to take out the Undead with ease.

"There's more of them coming!" Cilan cried.

"Keep your voice down," Wally hissed in a whisper, "There's going to be even more coming if we make more noise!"

Brock and Cilan used the edge of the technical's trunk, it increased their accuracy and enabled them to make more kills. Wally refrained from using the M60, instead he used his suppressed 9mm pistol and fired away. More Undead drop, but even more were arriving.

Several Undead started jogging towards Ash, screaming and hollering like crazies. Ash almost panicked, he quickly aimed and fired several rounds in their heads. They tripped and fell, and more Undead arrived to take their place. Ash licked his lips and gulped, he felt a cold sweat trickle down his neck as he tried to hold them back. But every time he killed a zombie, there was always another around the corner. To the looks of it, they seemed to be spawning out of thin air. What was attracting them, besides the living?

"Half-full," said Mark, "Keep holding them off!"

Suddenly an idea hatched in Ash's head, "Hey, Mark! You have any flares?"

"Yeah," said Mark, "Why?"

"I got an idea."

"They're in a box, under the passenger seat!"

After Ash took down a few more zombies, he opened up the passenger door startling Pikachu and Emolga in the seat. He looked underneath and found a small cardboard box, Ash reached in and grabbed the box. He opened it up and found several sticks of flares. Ash grabbed one of them and twisted its top, it glowed bright red. He stepped away from the technical and threw it out into the darkness.

The flare turned into a ball of light as it leaves the glow of the fuel station's outdoor lighting, it landed in the street outside and continued to hiss fire. Several Undead took notice of the flare and started for it, within moments a small group of Undead surrounded the flare.

"Can't believe that worked." said Ash nonchalantly.

"It must be the sound the flare makes," said Mark, "The Undead don't seem to be attracted to light, or else Faraday City would've been surrounded by hordes upon hordes of Undead from all over the island."

"That I can believe." said Cilan.

An Undead howled in the distance, more of the things were coming. Any second now, the massive hordes Mark and Ash barely escaped that day would be on them. And this time there won't be any rooftops to make an escape. Ash reloaded the AR-15 and tossed the used magazine into the technical's cab, he turned and saw several more stragglers marching towards him. Arms stretched out, eyes glowed, they moan and snarl as if they were excited in finding food.

"Truck's filled," Mark cried, "Time to go!"

Mark removed the hose and put it back on the rack, he sealed up the tank's lid and quickly fired more rounds at the Undead. Ash took down several Undead from the front, he grabbed another flare, twisted it, and tossed it away from the technical. It landed in an area lit up by the fuel station's lighting, it attracted some zombies but the majority of the herd were locked on. With the dead barely 7 meters away, Ash quickly jumped into the technical and shut the door behind him.

"Oh sh*t!" Mark cried as he came in, more terrified beyond appearance.

He shut his door and locked it, Mark quickly shifted gears and pressed the accelerator. The technical lurched forward, sending Ash pressing into his seat. Pikachu hanged on to his arm as Mark drove back on the road and sped away, leaving the Undead in their dust. Ash looked back and saw them wondering around underneath the canopy's lighting, where the technical had been.

"That was stupid," said Mark, "But it was worth it, look."

Mark pointed to the dashboard, Ash saw that the Hydrogen and Electricity meters both read 100 percent in green LED numbers. He unconsciously puts on his seatbelt and relaxed, then pressed down on the passenger side door's lock. A tap comes to the back window, Ash reached up and opened the small door.

"Let's not mention this to the others at the Pokémon Center," said Wally, "They don't need to know this."

"Agreed," said Mark, "They must be worried sick already."

Ash heard a loud yawn in the back, he looked over and saw Tesla laying face down in the trunk. He sat up with sleepy eyes and asked, "What happened, did I miss anything?"

"We managed to bypass a zombie horde," Mark called out to him sarcastically, "Nothing serious."

"How come anyone of you didn't wake me?"

"We were too occupied to pay attention to you, Tesla. It was my idea to take a quick pit stop, just relax and go back to sleep."

Tesla groaned, "How can I sleep exposed to negative 10 degrees Centigrade of air?"

Mark didn't answer, he shut the window and chuckled, "Can't blame him for being old, he had been through a lot over his years."

"Would we ever live to see eighty?" Ash asked.

"I doubt it, and I'm not complaining. I'm just making sure I make the best of my days. Besides, this was the best fun I ever had in a long time."

Ash laughed, "Getting chased by the Undead is what you consider fun?"

"Nope, seeing the expression on everybody's faces _as _they get chased is satisfying enough."

**. . .**

Natas watched Carley pace back and forth in the room. She had been doing that for the past 40 minutes, still she hadn't said why. He sit back and ate an MRE as Misty came walking into the room, "What's wrong, Carley?"

She stopped and turned towards Misty with worried eyes, "Henry's gone, last I saw him was on the roof but now I couldn't find him anywhere."

"Did you check the bathroom, or the makeshift rooms?"

"I'd asked around to see if anyone had noticed him going anywhere, they all said they hadn't seen him."

Misty raised an eyebrow, "First a couple of more Pikachus went missing, then Ritchie, then Henry. What's going on here?"

"Who's Ritchie?"

Ever since Ritchie lost Sparky, he wasn't himself. He already exclude himself from everyone else. They didn't notice him when he show up for the daily rations, nor did he spoke to anyone. Overtime, not to many people know his name. But they still remembered his face. Those who knew him personally, wondered what he was doing all this time. But with so much to do to keep the outpost functional, they didn't give much thought about him.

"One of our friends at Kanto, he lost his Pikachu hours before you guys arrived."

Carley gasped, "Did he heard about what happened to Raichu."

"He did, and he didn't took it well."

The walkie-talkie crackled to life, "_Mark's back, open the gate_."

Natas picked it up and answered, "Roger."

He got up from the chair and pressed the button, the metal shutters opened up and the group walked in. Natas took a careful glance at Ash, he was covered in sores and his Pikachu wasn't fairing well either. His friends were tired, and somewhat in shock. Mark was also beat up, also bruised. Emolga slept as her trainer carried her, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon must had been through a lot.

Wally approached Natas, he held up a bruised arm and shook his hand, "How are things over here, Natas?" he asked.

"Things are doing fine, what about you, Wally?"

"I'm dinged up a little but I'll live, where's Nurse Joy?"

"Sleeping," said Natas, "Why?"

Wally pointed to Pikachu, "The Mouse Pokémon hit his head."

Natas approached Ash and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You okay, kid?"

"I'm fine," said Ash, "I just want to call it a night, where's Nurse Joy?"

"Upstairs, sleeping," Natas glanced at Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon fluttered his eyes as he snuggled in his trainer's arms, "You wanna wake her for your Pikachu?"

"I'll take a look at him," said Brock, "I have Pokémon medical training."

Just when Brock was about to take Pikachu out of Ash's arms, the Mouse Pokémon grabbed on his trainer in silent defiance. Pikachu buried his head into Ash's shoulder as he tried to comfort him, "Let's take him upstairs."

"Mark." Carley cried.

She rushed up to Mark and gave him a bit hug, "We got a problem!"

"What's going on?" Mark asked.

"Several people and Pokémon had gone missing, including Henry," Carley gazed at Mark and Emolga's condition for a moment, her level of anxiety instantly increased, "Oh my gosh, what happened!?"

"Irvin taught me how to fly," Mark said, "Enough said. I just don't feel like explaining right now, I just want to go to bed."

"You wanna eat first? Dinner's almost ready."

Ash and Brock stopped at the stairwell, then turned, "What's for dinner?" Ash asked.

Pikachu lit up, almost seemingly better, "Pika Pika?"

"Crawford brought in some food from a recent foraging spree," Carley explained, "He found a lot of beef jerky and flour, we're going to have some real food tonight!"

"Who's Crawford?" Ash asked.

"A guy who keeps to himself," Natas explained, "He's alright in all, but something just doesn't seem right about him."

Tesla strolled up and collapsed on the floor, he was more tired than the others. Well, he's also the oldest. He wasn't as springy as he once was, "The deed is done," he groaned, "It's done, he's finally-"

"Save the story, Tesla," said Mark, he reached down and picked up Tesla, "We're going to have dinner before we go to bed."

"Emolga!" Emolga chirped.

The old Pikachu shrugged, "How can I refuse? Since you're holding me, how about you sit me at the dinner table? My legs are just too tired right now and I'm far too old to complain about being held."

**. . .**

"Are you feeling better now, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika." Pikachu smiled.

Brock taped the head bandages in place and observed his work, "That should do it, there was a small cut on his head but it wasn't that bad. A healing herb would do the job, but we don't have much of it as we used to."

Pikachu tried to scratch the head bandages, but Ash pulled his hand down. He picked up the Mouse Pokémon and carried him off to the makeshift dining room where his friends were sitting at. Several folding tables and chairs were set up, some MREs had been placed on the tables along with bottles of water. Professor Oak sat at the back end of the table, so did Delia. May and Max took over the other end, they had already got settled in and were chatting to each other. Iris got a seat, with Axew sitting next to her waiting patiently for the food.

Ash sat down and placed Pikachu in the chair next to him, he got settled in and took of his hat. He pulled a strand of hair off his head and held it up to see, _I'm going to need a haircut_. Ash thought.

"Ash," said Oak, "You're back, how did the trip to Faraday City go?"

"There's still some form of society there," said Ash, "The streets were patrolled by police pickup trucks with machine guns mounted in the backs, their eyes rolled over us as we passed through. Mark's dad and grandfather is doing okay, Tesla managed to persuade them to help out with dealing with Irvin. The poor fellow broke down in tears to do it."

"So Irvin Westinghouse had been dealt with."

"We put him down, and that's that. He was still recognizable from two decades of decay, he even still had some habits. But he was long gone, he tried to attack the person closest to him and tried to take a bite out of them. Tesla was the one who put him down."

"Was it hard on him?" Delia asked.

"He almost lost it, but he wasn't all that emotional. He claimed the bond was broken a long time ago, and Irvin was long gone. So yes, it was hard on him."

Oak noticed the bandages on Pikachu's head, "What happened to Pikachu?"

Ash thought for a moment, should he tell him that he and Pikachu were both nearly eaten by a zombie?

"He hit his head on a rock, Brock took care of him and I kept him close. It was quite a scare, but at least he wasn't knocked out."

"You got some bruises on you," said Delia, "What happened?"

_Think of something, Ash_. "It was a bit rough, there were more Undead than we expected. One of them managed to get a hold of me, pin me down. Tesla quickly came by and saved my skin, he made sure he didn't miss."

_Crap._

"Ash," Delia cried, "You must-"

"Save the lectures for later," Mark interrupted when he came walking in, his Emolga sat perched on his shoulder as he pulled up a chair, "You should had seen it when Irvin came out of the ground. He charged at with an iron fist, hit me with it so hard that it send me _flying _across the graveyard. You know what it feels like to be terrified and filled with joy at the same time? It doesn't seem to mix very well, but you end up getting screwed either way."

"What?" May asked.

Mark laughed, "Faraday Island thing, get Tesla drunk and you'll understand."

"Where's your mother?" Delia asked.

Mark's expression changed in an instant, "She left my dad a few years after I was born. It was a long story, but in the end she left Faraday Island and headed for Unova. We never heard from her since. So I grew up without a mother, and I didn't complain. Even after the world ended, I never gave much thought about her. As far as I'm concerned, everything we know is gone."

He sat a hand on Emolga's head and rubbed it, she smiled brightly and snuggled into his side, "I got some people I need to take care of, my mom's long gone and so will my dad. Someday."

Cilan came into the room holding tray full of plates, he passed them around the table as Crawford started passing out the food, "Got some jerky here," he said, "It wasn't easy getting these, so enjoy it while it lasts."

Ash watched as Crawford past out the jerky, everyone's mouth was watering as he passed out freshly cooked meat. Everyone got two handfuls of it, strange that there was a lot during these times. When he put some on his plate, Ash examined it. He can already tell it came from something that he wasn't familiar with. The texture was different, and the smell was familiar. Like someone was burned.

Everyone was soon given a small roll of bread, nothing about it was suspicious. When Ash got his, he looked at it. No alarm bells were ringing, nothing wrong with the bread. But what's wrong with the meat? Why does it seem so, odd?

"It looks good!" Max exclaimed, staring at the beef jerky on his plate.

"How much trouble did you got yourself into to get this?" Professor Oak asked.

"A lot." Crawford simply said.

A chair pulled back on its own, Ash quickly shot his attention to it. At first he thought his mind was playing tricks, he was relieved when Tesla poked his head over the table and sat up, "Oh, protein," he said sluggishly, "I needed some. So where did it come from?"

"Someone foraged it a while we're gone," said Mark, "Probably nearly got mauled by Walkers in the process. Why not you be the first to taste it, since you've got experience in this area?"

"Mark!" Ash scolded.

"Well, since I don't have much to live for. Why not?"

Tesla picked up a pair of chopsticks and used it to examine the jerky, "Looks like there's a few different types of meat here, probably came from different sources. And they looked familiar, I hadn't seen these kind in a long time."

He stabbed one of the jerky and placed it into his mouth. As he chewed it, his face showed concern and recognition. Tesla looked like he was on to something, "Hmm, I know this flavor well. I hadn't had it in a long time."

"What is it?" Professor Oak asked.

"It taste like it came from a leg of some creature, I have a few ideas where it came from."

Tesla gave Ash a look, his eyes said it all. Something was wrong. Ash looked around and saw Crawford staring out the window, probably observing the Undead outside. Whatever move Ash had to make, he best make it now.

"Oh," he said, "I almost forgot, I need to wash my hands."

"Hand sanitizer's in the living quarters," said Delia, "Make sure you get between the fingers."

"Yes, mom." Ash said nonchalantly.

He got up and discreetly left the room, once he made sure nobody was looking he took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes. Ash held it there for a moment, trying to clear his mind from the thought of the suspicious meat.

Something squealed in the floors above, then it became a mournful groan. That didn't sound like the occasional survivor in distress. Ash wondered what it was. His hand brushed the butt of his suppressed 9mm pistol just to make sure it was still there, then started for the stairs. He climbed up to the 4th floor and heard the groan again, this time it was getting louder. Ash got up to the 5th floor and noticed blood pooling at one of the doors, he drew his gun and held it up. He twisted the doorknob, locked. No matter, he flipped the safety off the pistol and gave the door a swift kick. The door popped open and swung wide open.

"What the!?" Ash gasped in shock.

The whole room was a blood bath, the walls, floor, and ceiling were sprayed with blood. Fresh blood. A bloody fire ax leaned against the wall, several IVs and Morphine shots lay near it, already used. Ash felt sick from the smell of blood, he stepped back and took a deep breath. Then noticed something that he had to wrap a rope around his sanity's neck to keep it in place.

Two Pikachus lay on their backs around the far corner of the room, their legs and tails were hacked off. Their yellow fur completely soaked in their own blood, their eyes stared out at Ash for mercy.

"Ash..." said Henry's voice, sounding quite weak.

Ash looked down and saw Henry on the floor, he too was soaked in his own blood. His legs were hacked off above the knees, blood pooled around him from the bloody stubs. Henry tried to crawl over to Ash, but his strength wasn't there. Ash crouched down and tried his best not to touch him, "What happened!?"

"Crawford," Henry muttered, "Hacked off my legs, left me here to turn. Whatever you do . . . don't eat dinner . . . without Tabasco sauce."

Henry tried to crack a smile, but a cough interrupted him. He spat out blood, dead blood. It became clear to Ash that there was nothing more he could do."

"Ash," Delia called from below, "Where are you? Your food's getting cold!"

"You know where Ritchie is?" Ash asked.

"No clue," Henry said weakly, "F*ck, Ash. Get him, quick! Just stall them until I get down there!"

Ash stepped back and watched Henry started crawling out into the hall, he left a large stain of blood behind him. Ash jumped over him and ran down the stairs, barely holding onto his gun as he descended. He got back on the 2nd floor and quickly ran back into the room, everyone was just about to eat. Crawford was gone, but Pikachu was about to take a bite out of the meat-

"STOP!" Ash screamed.

Pikachu dropped the chopsticks and the piece of "meat", everyone else froze almost instantly, "Ash," cried Delia, "What are you doing!?"

"Something's afoot, Ash?" Mark asked calmly.

"Hen-"

Tesla slapped his chopsticks on the table, "Wait! Let me guess . . . we're eating both human _and _Pikachu meat."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Their legs to be more specific."

Max was about to take a bite out of the "jerky", May quickly slapped it out of his hands and took his plate away, "May," he cried, "I was eating that!"

Axew fell to the floor and fainted, Iris tried to push her plate away but fell out of her chair in the process. She picked up Axew and held him tightly as she laid on the floor in the fetal position.

Delia became nauseous and fell to the floor, "Oh my . . ."

She vomited at Professor Oak's feet, who was too shocked to even notice, "How did you know, Tesla?"

Tesla shrugged, "Irvin's fault, I'd been through such desperation before. The taste of human and Pikachu flesh was unmistakable."

The old Pikachu winked at him, Ash resisted rolling his eyes at him, "We gotta get out of here!" Iris cried.

"We've," Cilan stammered, "W-We've served the same dinner to the others!"

Ash's face went white, "Oh no."

Mark's eyes went big and he held up a hand, "Ash, look out!"

A sharp blow smashed into the back of Ash's skull. He dropped the gun and yelped, blacking out before he hit the floor.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	30. Ch 30: Starved For Help

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXX_

_Starved For Help_

Ash's eyes flickered open, his head throbbed with excruciating pain. He sat up and held his head, the world was blurry as it screamed a buzzing tone. It took Ash only a few seconds for his sight and hearing to clear up.

He found himself locked in an empty room, the lights hurt when Ash looked directly at them. Ash shook the cobwebs out of his head and tried to get his bearings, he discovered he wasn't alone.

"Open up you bastard," Mark screamed as he pound on the door, "Let us out of here!"

"Mark," said Brock as he tried to calm him down, "He's not going to open that door."

"That prick's got my Emolga, course he won't open the f*cking door!"

"Oh this is bad," said Misty muttered as he sat in the corner of the room, "This is really bad!"

"Ash!" Professor Oak cried.

Ash looked up and saw Professor Oak held up a hand, the Pokémon trainer grabbed it and was helped back up to his feet, "What happened?" Ash asked.

"After Crawford knocked you out," Professor Oak explained, "he hustled some of us into a room on the fifth floor, he locked the others in another room and took the Pokémon hostage."

"Is Pikachu alright?" Ash asked worriedly.

"He was distraught, Mark's Emolga didn't fair better."

Mark gave the door a final pound before giving up, he pressed his head on the door and pressed his fist against the surface, "This door opens inward," he muttered, "But it locks on the other side."

"Can you pick the lock?" Brock asked.

"I can, but I need a bobby pin and a screwdriver. I don't suppose anyone have one on you."

"Nope," said Misty, "I don't."

Ash brushed his hand against his holster, it was empty. He remembered that when Crawford hit him, the gun fell out of his hand. Right now, a gun isn't going to do him any good. Ash tried to think of something, and then he remembered the Westinghouse knife. He reached for it, sure enough it was still there, "Hey guys," said Ash, "I think I got an idea in getting that door open."

"What idea?" Brock asked.

He pulled out the knife and held it up for everyone to see, "I could jam this into the doorknob and push its latch back."

Mark snickered, "Looks like Crawford missed something, he stripped us from our guns but not our knives. Sure, give that knife a try."

"Ash," said Misty, "Where did you get that?"

"Tesla," said Ash, "I'll tell you guys later."

Ash approached the door an examined it, there was enough space between the door and frame that this might work. He flipped the blade downwards and stuck it into the latch's strike plate, he twist it in there for a moment and managed to pull the latch back. Ash grabbed the door knob and slowly pulled it open, he peaked through to see if anyone was on the other side. He found a streak of blood coming from the room containing the bloody horror, it lead all the way towards the 2nd stairwell. Its door was wide open, Ash could see it lead downstairs.

No way he was going that way.

"Coast his clear," said Ash, "Or it looks like it."

"He tried to feed us an actual person," Misty cried, "An actual _person_!"

"Henry more specifically."

"Oh damn it," cried Mark, "What did he do to Henry?"

"He chopped his legs off in that room across the hall. That blood on the floor, that's his."

"With all that blood on the floor, Henry's probably long gone. But where is Crawford keeping the others?"

"Maybe somewhere where he could make a quick escape." said Oak.

"Then that would be one of the fire exits," said Mark, "But I think we'd boarded all of them up."

"Not the one in the emergency stairwell," said Brock, "It's locked from the outside, but not on the in. And if he's down there, then the police officers had him cornered with the Undead outside. He won't make a daring escape, not this time of night."

Mark rolled his eyes, "If he's desperate enough for cannibalism, then he's willing to try to run off into the night. Team Rocket boarded up all the stores that can be boarded, he won't have any trouble finding a place to sleep for the night."

"Well," said Ash, "First we get a gun, then we'll confront him."

"The guns we brought back with us from the police station," said Mark, "should be stored around the 3rd or 4th floor, since not to many people are sleeping in those rooms."

Ash gave him a look, "You don't know where they're stored at?"

"Don't look at me, I wasn't the one keeping tabs on the guns."

"Whatever, let's go find them."

"We'll head to the roof and barricade the door," said Brock, "Just in case he comes back."

"Good luck, Brock."

"You need it more than us, Ash."

Ash gave Brock a nod before heading out towards the stairs, Mark was right at his rear and keeping it covered. They tip-toed towards the stairwell that wasn't smeared with blood, Ash clutched the knife's handle tightly in case someone might pop out around the corner.

But nobody did, the stairwell and hall was clear. They heard some yelling down below, but it was too distorted to understand the words. Whatever Crawford's doing, it was getting worse. Several of Ash's friend's lives were on the line, including his own mother and Pikachu. He wondered if he could continue living if either one of them were killed in the process, or not properly killed...

The duo quickly crept from door to door, opening it a jar and taking a quick peak in each of them. So far, no guns or ammo. They searched all the rooms and found the 4th floor clean of anything useful. Just as they head back down the stairs, a shot rang out. Ash and Mark crouched down and listened, "I warning you to stay BACK!" Crawford's voice boomed through the building's steel and ceramic tiles, a few muffled sounds of panic soon followed and getting more severe by the passing second.

"I hope Emolga keeps her sh*t together," said Mark, "She's easy to crack."

When they reached the third floor, they began checking the rooms like last time. Just halfway through, Ash opened up a door and found the whole room full of guns. Looks like Crawford didn't take any of them, "Mark," he whispered, "I found them!"

Mark crept over to him, "Good, let's see what we have."

Ash holstered his hunting knife and went through his choice of firearms, there were three 9mm pistols, a .12 gauge shotgun, 3 AR-15s, an M1 Garand, and a .308 sniper rifle. Not wanting to go over them, Ash grabbed the .12 gauge shotgun and began loading it with slug rounds, "Treat it like a rifle, Ash," said Mark, "It's not like the movies."

He pumped the shotgun and load in an extra shell, then pocketed the rest, "Let's make each shot count."

Mark grabbed the M1 Garand and examined it, "This M1 Garand can handle .308 rounds, it'll do."

"Had you fire them before?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, I fired them before. The best part about the M1 Garand is when you fire the last shell. It gives of a small ding, like a bell."

Ash checked the sights and chuckled, "Yeah, this is going to go badly."

Mark laughed, "Yeah, and everyone is going to get shot and turned into a Walker."

_BANG!_

Several Pokémon screamed at the top of the their lungs, "Stay where you are," screamed Crawford, the duo heard him kick some furniture aside in anger, "Or you'll be dinner to the Undead!"

The duo stopped laughing and got serious, "Let's move." Mark whispered.

Ash flipped the shotgun's safety off, he was about to take lead when he remembered something, "Mark. You have a bulletproof vest, you go ahead."

"You ever thought of getting a vest?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, but I hadn't found one my size yet."

"You know, I keep forgetting you're a kid."

"And I'm surprised you haven't started shaving yet."

The duo crept down the stairs in a tip-toe fashion, Ash covered the top as Mark made sure the bottom was clear. The voices of many terrified Pokémon muttered through the walls like a thousand buzzing bug-types, Ash felt his heart ache from the terror they were having. Realizing that their lives were in his and Mark's hands, Ash thought about all the potential possibilities of them screwing up. He had dealt with hostage situations before, but had never dealt with a mentally unstable individual.

Heck, who was to say if anyone in the Pokémon Center – both human and Pokémon – were mentally stable. Even if they were comfortable, their paranoia would remain in place. Ash hated the suspicious nature of the Undead world, he missed putting his trust in strangers. But this stranger, whom had been with them since Day one, had defected against the group by trying to feed its own members to another. There was no telling how successful he was, or how brutal his methods were.

Ash accidentally bumped into Mark's rear, he jumped and almost pulled the trigger of his shotgun, "Shh!" Mark shushed.

Mark pointed two fingers at his eyes, then pointed down below. Ash peered through the gap of the stairwell and saw the Pokémon two levels below. Every single one of them were tied with rope and sealed in place with duct tape, sticks of dynamite and several lemon grenades were placed on their laps and the floor around them. They weren't attached to electronic timers or anything, they were just sitting there waiting to be used. Ash looked to see if his or Mark's Pokémon were down there, the only ones were Pikachu and Emolga.

The shiny sprite Sky Squirrel Pokémon sat terrified in the corner. She was entirely wrapped up with rope and duct tape, her mouth gagged shut with a rag. Emolga's eyes were wide open, locked in a terror that a lifetime of counseling wouldn't mend. Pikachu sat at the other corner, also bounded in place like the others. His mouth wasn't duct taped shut, it was wide open but no sound came out. Ash didn't wanna see the look in his eyes, he already knew the look.

Tesla sat next to Pikachu, his mouth was duct taped shut. Unlike the other Pokémon, Tesla sat there with a grumpy face. It was like he thought that this hostage situation was more annoying than petrifying, Ash tapped Mark on the shoulder and pointed it out, "At least Tesla keep his cool." he whispered in a chuckle.

Crawford stepped into view, he held up a .357 revolver and aimed it at the Pokémon. Ash resist the urge to shoot down at him, from this angle he might hit one of the Pokémon as well as Crawford, "Sh*t," said Mark, "He's got a Python, aim it just right and you can blow a man's arm off."

The group of Pokémon scooted themselves in each other tightly as possible, they all shivered from fear as Crawford waved the gun around, "I said STAY where you are!" he roared at them with a ridiculous level of paranoia.

Dawn's Pachirisu shivered so hard in his bonds that he accidentally tipped himself over, Crawford jumped back and pointed the gun at him, "I said f*cking stay!"

Crawford fired his Python, its deafening boom bounced off the walls and pierced Ash's ears. The bullet ripped into Pachirisu's lung and exploded out of his shoulder-blade. The Pokémon behind him got a face full of bright red blood, Pikachu didn't get any on him but Emolga and Axew did. With gore covering them, they stopped shivering and locked themselves in a trance. The other Pokémon, except Tesla, screamed out their lungs as Pachirisu slumped over and passed out.

"Who wants to be next," Crawford spoke, sounding like a wild cowboy, "Who wants to see what bullets can do when your special attacks do sh*t!"

"Damn it, Crawford," Wally's voice yelled down below, "You either open that door, or we'll blow it open!"

Crawford shot a look at the stairwell's first floor fireproof door, "Then I'll blow it back closed!"

"My gosh!" Ash whispered.

"Bastard's using hollow-points," said Mark, "If we don't move now, that Pachirisu's going to go on a feeding spree."

Crawford's expression instantly changed, he looked up and spotted Mark and Ash up above. Ash felt his heart sink into his stomach when he aimed the .357 Python up at him, he and Mark shot back as the gun blasted another hollow-point round. It clanged against the metal wall above them and ricochet into a thousand shards, all of them flared harmlessly away from them in a fine asphalt smell.

When Ash peered over the edge again, Crawford picked up a stick of dynamite and lit it with a Zippo lighter. He dropped the dynamite on a pile of explosives and grabbed Emolga and Pikachu. They couldn't fight back, they were too deep in shock to even notice the sudden change in the situation.

Crawford started up the stairs, he raised his gun at the duo again and fired 2 more shots. The first shot missed, but the 2nd shot struck Mark in the chest. He launched backwards and thumped his head against the wall, his M1 Garand fell free from his hands and hit the floor. It discharged, firing a round straight into the metal wall and penetrated clean through.

Ash sat there in confusion for a moment, wondering what just happened.

"Pikachu!"

He quickly came back to his senses from the sound of his Pikachu's voice, Ash looked back down and saw Crawford ran through the 2nd floor. With no time to think, Ash scrambled to his feet and went after Crawford.

**. . .**

Tesla's eyes were locked on the dynamite as he struggled with his bonds, Crawford made sure they were secured alright. The old Pikachu spat out the duct tape gag, the psychopath clearly saw too many movies. He bit into the rope and tried to break through it. No use. The rope was too thick.

The fuse on the stick of nitroglycerin dynamite was getting shorter every second, Tesla shoved the other Pokémon roughly as he tried to shake through the bonds. They all screamed in panic, though Axew still sat there locked in deep thought. Tesla tried to bite the rope again, but all he managed to do was tire out his jaw. He thought about using one of his unique electrical attacks . . . no, they're too destructive for the other Pokémon to handle.

Sh*t.

**. . .**

Mark's eyes flickered open, his hand brushed against where Crawford shot him. He felt no blood. He looked down and saw his vest stopped the bullet, Mark laughed when he remembered Crawford was using hollow-point.

He reached up and grabbed the safety bar to pull himself up, once on his feet Mark looked down and saw a stick of lit dynamite on a pile of explosives. Mark wondered where the explosives came from, but his mind was too fuzzy from the blow to think it through.

"Come to think of it," he said to himself, "Dynamite is surely powerful, might as well put out the fuse before someone gets hurt."

Mark nonchalantly stepped down from stairs, shrugging along like an actual zombie. The Pokémon saw him stepping down from the stairs and approach the pile of explosives, he picked up the lit stick of dynamite and held it up to see. The fuse was just 5 centimeters away from igniting the nitroglycerin, Mark simply held up an index finger and thumb and squeezed the small ember. It sizzled and suffocated. Just to make sure, Mark pulled the fuse out of the dynamite and gently put it back where he found it.

Now for that Pachirisu.

He approached the EleSquirrel Pokémon's body, it laid in a pool of its own blood – completely motionless. Poor thing, he was so adorable like Emolga. Well, cuteness was always a big weakness as well as strength. Mark held up his foot and hovered it over Pachirisu's head, then smashed his head in.

Brain matter and blackened blood spewed out from the crushed skull, this little critter won't be coming back.

Mark turned towards Tesla and grinned, "So how's your night going?"

The old Pikachu blinked in disbelief, "You just saved us from a lethal explosion and being eaten by a zombified Pachirisu and you're asking us how are night's been going!?"

Mark gave a relaxing nod, "Yeah..."

Tesla laughed, "Not much better as yours, I'm afraid."

Mark got down and pulled out his pocketknife, then cut Tesla's bonds free. When the old Pikachu was finished stretching his arms and legs, Mark handed him the pocketknife before turning his attention to the fireproof door, "Wally?" he called out.

"Mark," said Wally, "Is that you!?"

"Yeah, Ash is chasing Crawford. I managed to defuse his _bomb_ right here, this area is clear."

"Can you get the door open, Crawford jammed it with something."

That something was a screwdriver, jammed into the door handle's mechanism. Mark grabbed the screwdriver and pulled it out, he dropped it on the floor before pushing the door open...

And he was greeted by several officers with loaded guns.

"Fellas," Mark said in an odd mafia gangster accent, "It's all good here."

Wally held out the palm of his hand and slapped him in the face, snapping Mark out of his delirium. He blinked hard when he realized, "Holy crap, Crawford just shot me. The vest stopped the bullet, but it still had enough punch to knock me on my ass!"

"Where's Crawford?" Wally asked.

"2nd floor," said Mark, "He has Emolga and Pikachu hostage. Careful not to shoot them, they're putting their trust in you, Wally!"

Wally peaked in and saw Tesla freeing the other Pokémon's bonds, "Where the f*ck did he get this rope!?" the old Pikachu muttered to himself.

Mark spun around and charged up the stairs, "This way!"

Wally and the other cops were right behind him, they stepped through and made their way up the stairs. Mark grabbed the M1 Garand and cocked it, just as he reached the 2nd floor gunshots rang out behind the fireproof door.

**. . .**

Ash let loose a shotgun blast and shot back to cover, a magnum round splintered into the door frame a millisecond later, "It would had all turned out alright with y'all folks!" Crawford boomed.

"Cannibalism," Ash called out, "Really!?

"Eating Pokémon isn't cannibalism, and Pokémon eat each other all the time! It's the cycle of life! Heck, we're all going to be Walkers at the end of the line eventually! Doesn't hurt to start early!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried.

"Oh, I just love the fact that Pikachu are quite fat Pokémon."

Ash cocked the shotgun and peered out, he stared down the hall and saw Crawford stuck his head out. He fired the shotgun. The slug round went high and blew a hole through the wall, Crawford zipped back to cover. Ash cocked the shotgun again, he stared at the shotgun for a brief moment and recalled he was also using a special round. He aimed at the spot where he thought Crawford was taking cover at, then fired.

The slug round ripped through the wall and Crawford let out a high-pitched scream. He spun out of cover, with Emolga and Pikachu in a choke hold. Ash noticed he shot Crawford in the thigh, the wound was quite grotesque as it bled and oozed around his pants. He instantly felt nauseous in realizing he had harmed a living person, Ash fought the thought back by remembering that living person was threatening his Pikachu's life.

And that living person happened to have the Python's barrel pressing against the Mouse Pokémon's temple.

_Pikachu! _Ash thought.

Pikachu's eyes were wide open as Crawford stepped back towards the 2nd emergency stairwell, "These Pokémon don't know sh*t about human wars, how humans battle, how humans fight. _This _is what a human battle looks like, and you don't need years of training to kill _millions_!"

Ash saw the 2nd stairwell's door pop open. A bloody hand came out, followed by an upper body – and just, the upper body. It was Henry. His eyes glowed bright red as he crawled his way towards Crawford, leaving behind a trail of pitch black blood from his leg stumps.

"I'll do it," cried Crawford as he pulled the Python's hammer back, unknowingly stepping backwards toward one of his earlier victims, "I'll scramble this Pikachu's brains for breakfast in the morning!"

"You best not even think of it!" Ash warned, he stepped out of cover and advanced.

"Emolga!" Emolga chirped.

Crawford tightened his choke hold, causing Emolga and Pikachu to gag, "I'll do it, I'll make sure your Pikachu here will be an unrecognizable pile of sh*t with a lightning bolt tail sticking out of it!"

Henry crawled closer, his teeth gnashing away as he reached out for Crawford's ankles. Ash felt his heart pound in his chest, he knew one false move now would be-"

"I said BACK!"

Crawford pulled the trigger of the Python, Pikachu and Emolga squeezed their eyes shut and braced themselves for sudden death.

_Click!_

Out of ammo.

"Damn it!" Crawford cursed.

Henry grabbed one of Crawford's legs and sank his teeth into it, the psychopath screamed as he let go of his Pokémon hostages. Pikachu and Emolga ran for cover behind Ash as he watched Henry do Crawford in.

"Game over," he cried, "Game f*cking over!"

Crawford fell face first on the floor, Henry managed to climb on top of him and bit deep into his neck. The psychopath choked on his own blood as it pooled around him.

Ash dropped the shotgun and picked up Pikachu in silent redemption as Henry feast the crazed butcher. Mark and Wally rushed up and saw the scene for themselves. They stared in deep shock. Wally stepped back and looked away, he couldn't handle the scene. Henry ripped out a chunk of flesh and growled, then ripped out another chunk. Crawford stopped gurgling and went limp, his eyes still locked open.

Mark stepped forward and took a breath, he held up the M1 Garand and fired it into Crawford's skull. The bullet caused his head to cave in, brain matter and fresh red blood escape out the back part of his skull to add to the blood puddle. Henry looked up and snarled, Ash saw just a tiny spark of his humanity remaining in Mark's friend.

No, Henry was Ash's friend to.

Without saying a word, Mark aimed the M1 Garand at Henry's head and fired. The bullet blew straight between Henry's eyes and created a puff of black mist out the back of his skull, the bullet's casing meanwhile gave off a loud _ding_ when ejecting out of the gun. Signaling the last round was spent. Henry fell forward and hissed his last breath.

"This show's over folks," said Mark, he handed the M1 Garand to Wally and scooped up Emolga, "I'm going to clean Emolga up, then I'm going straight to bed. Goodnight."

Mark walked off, leaving Ash stumped, "What just-"

"Ash," cried Delia, "Is that you!?"

Someone pounded on one of the doors, Ash approached it and twist the knob. Locked, "Mom," said Ash, "Get back!"

Ash stepped back and gave the door a swift kick, the door swung open and Delia stood before it. Shocked, "Ash," she cried, giving her son and his Mouse Pokémon a big hug, "Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine," said Ash, "Crawford's dead."

"Were you shooting that shotgun?"

"Yes."

Delia's eyes went big, "Did you kill him!?"

"Henry did," said Ash, "But it wasn't Henry anymore, Mark both them both down."

Delia shook her head and stepped back, Ash saw May and Max standing in the back. Iris sat back in shock, she wasn't able to comprehend what had just happened. Cilan sat in the corner with his head buried in his knees, appearing he had fallen asleep.

After a brief paused, Delia asked, "What in the world happened out there!?"

Ash looked down at his Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon cried silently in his arms. He looked up at Ash, his eyes were filled with relief, joy, and sorrow. Ash cradled Pikachu's head and held him tight, then gave his answer, "We're losing our minds."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	31. Ch 31: Opted Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXI_

_Opted Out_

No one said a word during breakfast the next morning, they all sat quietly and ate their share of rations. Some didn't feel like eating, they either gave their rations to somebody else or saved it for later. Professor Oak sat in the nearby corner and stared out the window, seeing how the orange sky reminded them of the nightmare they were in.

Ash kept his Pikachu close as he and his Pokémon nibbled on their rations. With last night's fiasco still fresh, eating was the last thing on their minds. Their friends sat around them, many just sat there, staring off into space, as others stared at their rations, whom were barely touched.

Mark came into the room with a look on his face, he held his Emolga in his arms as he sat down in a nearby chair, "Ritchie's missing," he broke the silence, "He wasn't hacked up like Henry and the two Pikachus."

The two Pokémon Center Pikachus had died and turned, Wally managed to put them out of their torment as everyone slept. It saved Ash a lot of emotion, though the sight of their suffering still burned in his eyes, "I hadn't seen him in a week," said Ash, "Did anyone seen him?"

"No," said Professor Oak, "The last time I saw him was 3 days ago."

Ash thought for a moment, this wasn't what Ritchie would do. He folded his hands together and rested his elbows on the table, "Could he leave the Pokémon Center without us knowing?"

"The Pokémon Center Pikachus can," said Brock, "Isn't that hard for people either."

Delia sat her rations down and asked, "So what prevented Crawford from escaping? That stairwell had an emergency exit."

"That emergency exit had been boarded up from the outside," said Mark, "But not the one in the other stairwell, Crawford simply chose the wrong stairwell to escape from. Had he taken the unblocked route, he would had escaped into the night like a loose cannon. Then there would be a bigger problem later on."

Ash managed to finish his rations and picked up his garbage, he tossed it in the nearby trash bin and scooped Pikachu in his arms, "I'm going to go see where Ritchie went, holler if you need me."

"Okay, Ash." said Delia.

Ash left the room and head towards the stairwell, he stopped at the door and looked at the walls. The marks where the .357 bullets hit were still there, still fresh. Ash held up a finger and tried to rub some of the residue off. The blemish held firm, like it was paint or a permanent marker. That bullet was meant for him, amazing that it missed. He was mostly used to having guns drawn on him, finally someone _tried_ to shoot him. To kill him . . . and Pikachu.

"It felt more like a dream." Ash thought.

"Pika." Pikachu muttered.

He made his way down the stairs to the first floor, the area where Crawford kept the Pokémon hostages were scrubbed clean. The smell of bleach and vinegar was overwhelming, they must had used a lot to clean up the blood. Ash looked away and walked to the lobby, he found Wally sitting in a chair by the makeshift barricade. The cop looked up at him, his eyes showed that he hadn't slept at all last night.

"We've burned the bodies," said Wally, "I wish we could bury them. But ever since the showdown at the Faraday City Cemetery, I just asked myself this question."

"What question?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

Wally sat the butt of his shotgun on the floor, his hand clamped hard on the barrel, "If our life is extinguished, would that release the monster within us?"

Ash pointed towards the shuttered entrance, "From what we had seen out there, isn't that even a question?"

Wally sat up and nod, "Of course not, it shouldn't be a question. Anyway, you need anything, Ash?"

"I'm looking for Ritchie, Professor Oak said he was missing for three days now."

"No way he could had left the Pokémon Center without us knowing, those emergency exits are rigged to set off an alarm. No way he could had made his way through that entrance either, it's just not possible."

"I checked all the 5 floors and their rooms _twice _this morning, and since he'd been gone for longer than a day-"

"Had you checked the basement?"

Ash's face gone cold, he already sensed where this was going. Wally saw it too, he shook his head and stood up, "You're thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes." Ash nodded, hoping he was wrong.

Wally head over to the basement door and opened it, Ash followed behind him down the stairs as he held Pikachu tight in his arms. When they reached the basement floor, Wally flipped a switch and all the lights came on. The air conditioning unit hummed away amidst the silence of the Pokémon Center's foundation, even on normal times being in a basement filled with random junk made Ash get a loneliness feeling. Besides that feeling and the lack of the usual slight echo, things seemed normal.

Seemed normal...

Ash checked the energy storage and fuel cell rooms, they were empty. He head back to the entrance and noticed the yellow steel door next to the basement stairwell, a steel pipe rested on solid metal hooks welded on each side of the door. Whoever put it there was making sure that nothing would get through from the other side. Ash tried to twist the door knob, locked.

"Pokémon Center access tunnels," said Wally, "In case there's an emergency, these tunnels are used to transport Pokémon to another Pokémon Center if it has something the Pokémon needs, or medical personal. Mark welded the hooks on and I put the bar there, just to make sure no one comes through."

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu muttered.

Wally shook his head, "Cause those hallways are filled with Undead Pokémon, I know because I seen them. I went down there to lock up the fireproof door at the bottom of that stairwell, I peaked through the small window and there were so many Undead electric-types down there."

"Maybe the other Pokémon Centers on the island had been overunned." Ash suggested.

"Some of them, but not all. I forgot to ask Emmett if the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital was still running, I have a cousin who works there."

Ash turned and looked across the rows of shelves, he looked on the tile floor and noticed footprints imprinted in a thick layer of dust. They were fresh, and the shoe size seemed to match Ritchie's feet, "What is it, Ash?" Wally asked.

"One set of footprints," said Ash, "Going only one direction, I don't see a 2nd set coming out."

Wally looked over to where Ash was looking, "Wherever he went, he's probably still there. There's no other way out in that part of the basement."

Pikachu shivered in Ash's arms, "Pika..."

Ash looked around and saw a section of metal pipe, it sat on a shelf containing rubber hoses. He put Pikachu on his shoulder and grabbed the pipe, Wally cocked his shotgun and started following the footsteps. Ash held his breath as he covered Wally's back, he listened for any unusual noises that may had come from someone. He didn't have to wait long.

"You hear that?" Wally whispered.

"I do," said Ash, "It sounds like, soft grunts."

The further the two followed the footprints, the louder the grunts. Ash held tightly to the pipe, he felt his heart racing again. The footprints led them deeper into the basement, the level of dust here showed that no one used this area in a long time. Ash felt the sense of isolation grow stronger, a thought crossed his mind that this could be a place for anyone who wanted to be alone.

The footprints made a sharp turn, Wally and Ash followed it and it led to the end. Ash's eyes went big, he tried to cover Pikachu's eyes but it was no use. The Mouse Pokémon already seen it. Wally wasn't too emotional, but he looked like he was ready to crap himself.

"Sweet Mother of Arceus." Wally muttered.

Ritchie was suspended from the ceiling, a noose tied around his neck. His hand was heavily lacerated, creating a pool of blood below him. Sitting in it was a flashlight, a bloodied cheap pocketknife, and Ritchie's hat. On the wall behind Ritchie, big capital letters were written dried bloodstains:

_TEOTWAWKI_

"He hanged himself," said Wally, "He freaken hanged himself."

Ash's former rival stirred and opened his eyes, they glowed bright florescent red. Ritchie held up his bloody hand towards him. The rope suspending Ritchie snapped, his Undead corpse fell to the floor flat on his face. Ash and Mark stepped back, Ritchie moaned as he tried to pull himself up. He slipped from his blood puddle and thumped back to the floor, then he tried again, only met with the same result.

"I'll do it," said Ash, "He's a close friend."

Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and stepped back, his trainer held up the metal pipe as Ritchie got himself on his knees.

Ash slammed the pipe down on Ritchie's head, his skull burst and splattered upon impact. It wasn't enough, Ritchie still groaned and moved. Ash smashed the pipe into his head again, the spine cracked and Ritchie was instantly paralyzed. Yet he still moan. Ash gulped as he felt sweat trail down his neck, he took one end of the metal pipe and jabbed hard into the back of Ritchie's head. The pipe went clean through and penetrated the brain stem, the Undead Ritchie stopped groaning and became motionless.

"I'm sorry, Ritchie," Ash said over Ritchie's body, "I wish I could help you."

He tossed aside the metal pipe, it clattered to the floor and stopped against one of the storage boxes. Ash looked up at the wall and saw letters, he quickly realized that he had seen them before. He turned to Wally and asked, "What does TEOTWAWKI mean?"

"The End Of The World As We Know It." said Tesla's voice.

Everyone turned and found Tesla standing before him, "I wondered why your scent trail led me down here, I was worried when I smelled the blood."

"I can't blame you." said Ash.

Tesla held up a 9mm pistol, equipped with a red dot sight and suppressor, "I managed to find your gun, Crawford had it stashed in the waiting room believe it or not."

Ash took the gun and holstered it, "Thanks, Tesla."

"I feel like you're the only person I trust around here, everybody else is about to lose it. You ever thought of packing up and moving out to a new outpost?"

"No."

"You should, you know for damn sure that we can't stay here forever. Heck, we don't even need to go that far. This is Faraday Island, the infrastructure is built on renewable energy. Some of these towns have their own power plants, believe it or not. Just small solar power plants and wind farms, you can start over by taking over these small towns. This would help prevent more people from _opting _out, like your friend here."

Ash groaned, "Can we have this conversation later, Tesla? We need to take care of this right now."

"Um, okay. When you're done, gather your friends so they'll hear the plan."

"Okay, Tesla."

**. . .**

Cilan, Iris, Brock, Misty, May, and Max gathered in the living quarters. Ash managed to finish up burning Ritchie's body, whom he did his best to hide his feelings. He kept a straight face as he took a seat on his bed, his Pikachu huddled beside him. Tesla jumped up on another bed and the group faced him, giving him their full attention.

"We're running out of food," said Tesla, "That's a fact. We're also beginning to eat each other, which we learned the hard way last night. It's becoming clear that the Pokémon Center is starting to become dangerous."

"Your point." Misty asked.

"Simple, find a new place to hunker down. But this time, you take the most trusted people with you. Especially those with special skills, their lives are invaluable."

"Sounds like a good idea," said Cilan, "We've barely worked with each other in maintaining this Pokémon Center, since there's so many mouths to feed. Everybody's ready to snap on each other. If we were to leave the Pokémon Center and hunker down elsewhere, folks here would have more food to eat since the demand is dropped."

Tesla point a finger at Cilan and smiled, "Nailed it on the head. Bravo, there may be hope for you yet."

"However," Tesla continued, "There is one problem we need to address."

"What's that problem?" Ash asked.

"All of us spend our entire lives building around careers revolving around Pokémon, we've trained Pokémon and nurse them back to health if sick. This Undead world has nothing to do with Pokémon, there's little transferable skills that can be useful in such a survival scenario. Then there's the Pokémon, whom we devoted our lives to."

"Axew." said Axew, probably agreeing with him.

"We all know that not all of us will make it, is your Pokémon prepared to lose you?"

Tesla went silent for a moment, letting the thought sink in, "They view you as family, they prove their loyalty to you. But if you die, your Pokémon are on their own. They're going to feel hopeless, distraught, angry, and in rare cases, lose half their sanity. I know this by experience when Irvin died, and I can promise you that the longer the bond between the trainer and the Pokémon, the worse the pain they would feel. You guys spent at least a few years with your Pokémon, Irvin had me for seventy. I spent two decades with half my sanity gone until Ash here came by, and – metaphorically speaking – slapped me in the face."

"And you've followed me around ever since," added Ash, "Either intended or not."

The old Pikachu frowned, "That can never be more true."

"What if one of us turned into a zombie," said Cilan, "How would our Pokémon react?"

"When I saw Irvin crawl out of his grave, I almost lost control of my bowels. I managed to hold it in since people were watching, and seeing Irvin punch Mark was quite humorous to watch. But let's be serious, what I felt in twenty years is amplified and squashed into a few seconds. It would feel like a heart attack, a really _painful _one. Irvin wasn't Irvin, he was just an empty husk. All that was left were instincts and built-in habits, so don't be surprised when some zombies – who're either close friends or relatives – give you a curious look before they try to munch on your shoulder."

"In plain speech," said Brock, sounding irritated, "What's your plan?"

Tesla raised an eyebrow, "I have a plan. But first, let's here what you have in mind?"

"So far you had rambled on without end, continuously adding in your experiences to several scenarios you talk about. That could mean one thing."

"What's that, youngin?"

"Pikachu's are social creatures," Brock explained, "They are literally built to crave attention. You're probably more emotional about losing your trainer than other Pokémon, since you can speak your mind to your trainer using human words. Ever since his passing, you wanted someone to trust and talk about your grievances, since you don't want to feel alone like the time you lost your family. It became a habit, which contributed heavily to the loss of half your sanity."

"I'm too old to repair the damage done to me, and I felt it all soften and fade. I did not hesitate to shotgun-blast my trainer's head off, but your Pokémon would hesitate a lot more, since the relationships have love a hundred percent of the time."

Ash thought about it for a moment, "They would lose hope, they would give up on the spot. They won't let it go, not in this new era."

"And they're going to die in this new era if we leave them unprepared," Tesla added, "We may be lucky right now, because I have a lot of close friends who would help us in this."

"Close friends?" Iris asked.

"Pokémon friends, they all look up to me like I'm their father. Many of them owe me a few favors, this is a good opportunity for them to pay their dues and train your Pokémon on how to combat the Undead variants."

"I didn't bring any Pokémon with me," said Brock, "Left them back home, with the family, before all this happened."

"I brought a few Pokémon with me," said Misty, "Psyduck and a few others."

"No Pokémon," said May, "Just my brother, that's all."

"We've brought some of our Pokémon with us." said Iris, holding up Axew with two hands.

"Axew!" Axew cheered.

"And I got Pansage!" said Cilan.

"I have most of my Unova team here," said Ash, "Most of them."

Tesla nodded, "Okay, let's gather them all up and prepare to head out. I know where my friends are at, the short field trip should go by smoothly."

"I'm staying," said May, "I gotta watch my brother."

"Aww," cried Max, "I want to come!"

"You come along, and I'll have a relative of mine give you a good kissing."

Max's eyes went big, "No, no, no, no! Okay, I'm staying!"

"Mark's coming?" Cilan asked.

"He's the one driving," said Tesla, "I had already talked to him about this, it didn't take much convincing."

"Wait," said Iris, "We're going to leave for a while? All of us, I mean, _most_ of us?"

"Yup," said Tesla, "Along the way, we can get a better threat assessment of the Undead."

Ash reached underneath his bed and grabbed his AR-15, "Okay," he said, "Tell Mark we're getting ready."

"Okay."

After Tesla left the room, May placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, "Try not to hurt yourself out there."

"I won't let the dead try." said Ash.

The trainer picked up his Mouse Pokémon and placed him on his shoulder, "Let's go get the others, Pikachu."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	32. Ch 32: Pokemon, Get Back In Your Hole!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXII_

_Pokémon, Get Back In Your Hole!_

"Well this is ridiculous." Ash commented the cramped space of the trunk.

"I think someone is sitting on my tail." said Tesla.

"Oshawott." Oshawott muttered, he reached down and pulled the old Pikachu's tail free.

"Ah, that's better. Sometimes my tail's a burden, _because _there's always someone sitting or grabbing it. What a nuisance."

Cilan, Iris, Brock, and Misty sat at up against the walls of the technical's trunk as their small Pokémon sit in the middle. Ash was compacted in the corner closest to the driver's seat, which wasn't exactly comfortable with Snivy and Scraggy sitting on his lap. He tried to adjust his legs, but someone wound up sitting on his ankle, "Now who's butt is that?" Ash asked.

No response.

"Well?"

Pansage moved and the pressure on Ash's ankle was relieved, "Thanks."

"Pan." Pansage nodded.

Ash turned to the back window and saw Mark's Pikachu sticking her head up, she had her tongue out and was panting like a dog Pokémon. She was looking straight at his Pikachu, does she have some romantic interest in his buddy? Ash waved his hand across her line of sight, she took notice and crouched back down. Mark's Pikachu peaked over one last time before sitting back in her seat, with the rest of Mark's Pokémon.

"Now I know the hard way why Poké balls were invented," said Tesla, he gave Psyduck a hard shove and tipped him over on Misty's lap. The Duck Pokémon just sit right back up, crossing his eyes, "Cause everybody's dead weight!"

Iris let out a snicker, even Axew can't help but giggle. Tesla frowned and gave her the grumpy look, "Oh you think that's funny, you should have seen Irvin's estate. He doesn't keep his Pokémon at the Pokémon Lab, he keeps them at home. And they were _everywhere_. So many Pokémon, a lot of them electric-types, were running about like kid's in a candy store. You should have smelled the place on a Friday night, cause the night before was usually bake beans night!"

Ash laughed hard, which caused everybody to laugh as well, "Were you that close to them?"

"I was with them from the day they hatched from their eggs to the day they passed away, it all felt like boot camp slash army base. We all don't eat Pokémon food, Irvin made sure our diet is diverse because he treated us like people. Because of this, we have to get an outdoor toilet installed because the other toilets were almost always occupied. Thankfully the showers were built in a separate room, or it would've been worse."

Ash stared at the bare trees as zipped by, they weren't familiar from his previous run across the roadways through the Island, "Where are we going?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," said Tesla, "You'll like the place, and it might even be used as our safehouse if the Pokémon Center ever get's overunned. Me and the Kissinger family knows the place well, though Mark hadn't been there before. His dad had, once."

Mark pulled the technical off the main road and onto a dirt one, they silently lumbered along in the deep forest terrain. Ash saw several rocks sticking out between the trees, hinting another factor on why gardens are difficult to grow here. The aggregate in the soil was high, no way conventional vegetables would grow from it. That's what Mark said, that's what Tesla said. The vertical farms from Faraday City still have power. However there's only enough farms to feed the entire city, but barely enough excess food to feed the rest of the island.

And Ash bet their generosity have a limit.

"Axew." Axew muttered to himself, he looked off and stared out to space. Iris clutched him tight on her lap, not wanting to let him go for a second.

"Okay," said Brock, "If the federal government were to come in and save the day, if society is restored. What about the Undead, what will happen to them?"

Ash shook his head, "As long as people and Pokémon die, there will be more of them."

"Is there something wrong, Ash?" Iris asked, noticing the expression on his face."

"Ritchie's dead."

Misty and Brock shot a look at them, Ash and his original group members knew Ritchie personally. Iris and Cilan, however, sat there confused, "What happened to him?" Misty asked.

"He hanged himself in the basement, and probably some time later he turned. I don't know how long he had hung there, but it looked like it had been days."

"Did he had any other Pokémon on him?" Brock asked.

"Wally checked his pockets and backpack, no Poké balls were found," Ash sighed and sat back, "I didn't get the chance to talk to him, I knew I should have talked to him about it. But he isolated himself so much that it slipped my mind, I can't believe I forgotten about him."

"You do remember Tracey and Gary are still missing since day one," said Brock, "Right?"

Ash's jaw dropped, "I forgotten about them too!"

"We'll find them," said Tesla, "If we are able to get this far, then they should too. Besides, this island isn't that heavily populated anyway."

"Yet the zombie hordes . . . had the Undead figured out that they have a greater chance on getting _prey _in larger numbers?"

"It's just a natural instinct, Ash. The thought of banding together in a tough crisis was built in the human and Pokémon evolution."

"Are you that educated?" Misty asked.

Tesla gave her a look, "I'm the only Pokémon that can read and write human language."

"Let me guess," said Ash, "Irvin taught you?"

"No, I taught myself."

The forest gave way to a 2 story house, sitting on a small hill. Ash was amazed at the house, it looked like it wasn't touched by the apocalypse. Looking further, Ash saw a barn in the back and a large section of field that had once been a garden. A garden? On an island that barely grows anything at all.

Mark killed the engines and got out of the car, "We're here."

"Wow," said Misty, "It's beautiful, what is this place?"

"The Westinghouse Ranch," said Tesla, "Been in Irvin's family for at least 270 years. Irvin grew up here, and when his parents divorced he moved out to the city. He keeps coming back to this place, always brings me and his other Pokémon along. This is where I was trained to battle, and also where I learned about some unconventional knowledge like firing a gun. Me and my friends . . . we had so much fun here."

"Were you friends with your trainer's parents?" Brock asked.

"With Irvin's mom, absolutely not. She never forgive me for blowing Irvin's hand off. But Irvin's father, he was a good friend. Ridiculously old, and the most wisest son of a b*tch I'd ever known. I'll tell you more about him later, right now there's some friends of mine nearby that needed to be dealt with."

"Which way?" Ash asked.

Tesla jumped out of the technical, "This way, we'll walk from here."

Everybody got out of the car and picked up their weapons, Mark reached underneath the driver's seat and pulled out a shotgun suppressor. Ash raised an eyebrow as he watched him screw the suppressor on the Remington 870's barrel, Mark noticed Ash's observing glare and snickered, "What, my dad has plenty of suppressors."

Mark's Emolga, Pikachu, and the Cheering Pokémon duo gathered around him. They kept close, huddled up by his legs. Oddly enough, Plusle and Minun began rubbing their heads on Mark's shins. Ash turned to the rest of the group and saw they were looking as well as they focused getting their weapons ready, "Your Pokémon adores you!" Misty exclaimed.

"Plusle!" chirped the Cheering Pokémon.

"Minun!" chirped his negative polarity counterpart.

"I developed some of Irvin's training tactics," said Mark, "But only some, since I don't want to be hard on them. Just for the record, all my Pokémon are _female_."

Mark's Pikachu abruptly farted, Emolga covered her nose with her tail as she scrambled back on her trainer's shoulder. The Mouse Pokémon just sat there with a guilty smile on her face, feeling no shame at all.

"I can't believe we're related." Tesla grumbled.

"What's the relation?" Misty asked.

Tesla cocked his M3A1 and checked the sights, "Great-Granddaughter."

"Long story," said Mark, "Very cute and stupid at the same time, I can't believe she was that easy to get."

"Not so easy to get now," said Tesla, "I got some family back in Unova, I'm not particularly worried since they live in a private forest excluded from civilization about 100 kilometer radius. Except the nearby town of Dixie, which is a town that only has 7 last names."

Mark chuckled, "Good times, good times..."

Everybody followed Tesla as he led the way, he made a turn onto a gravel path and the group followed him. Ash looked up and saw how the forest tried to cave in on him, it wasn't like they were on an asphalt road. This was different, this was a road designed for pedestrian travel. Much more easier to get ambushed on . . . uh oh.

Ash glanced down to see if his Pokémon were still there, they kept close to him but not as close as Mark's Pokémon to their trainer. They all had the same look on their face, it was like they sensed something wasn't right. He noticed Pikachu's ear was twitching as he walked along with the others, Ash looked at Tesla and notice his ear was twitching too. But not as much.

"Is something bothering you, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"No," said Tesla, "Just my damn instincts acting up, telling me we're getting close."

"Close to what?" Brock asked.

"My friends."

All the Pokémon began murmuring to each other, yet Psyduck seemed to be more focused on his never-ending headache than anything else. Snivy gave Pignite a look, then gave Scraggy a look. Finally she looked up at Ash, her face showed that she wondered if he had the answers she was looking for. When Ash looked back up, he saw they were approaching something. Ash cocked his AR-15 and readied himself, he wasn't prepared for what loomed before him.

"This was something I should had foreseen," said Mark, "Damn it, Tesla. Why did you brought us to another graveyard?"

Ash shook his head, "This isn't a graveyard for humans, Mark."

A cast-iron fence wrapped around the square plot of land, unlike the ginormous Faraday City Cemetery this one was way smaller. It looked about at least 50 square meters. All the graves were organized in groups, marked with granite pedestals with letters on them. Ash read each letter: K, J, S, H, and U.

_What do they mean? _He thought to himself.

There was a massive granite sign at the side of the small cemetery, Ash approached it and read it out loud, "Veteran Pokémon's Resting Place," his eyes glanced over the summary of the graveyard, "Here lies the Pokémon of the Westinghouse Army, owned and trained by the famous Pokémon Master of Faraday City Gym: Irvin Westinghouse. Every Pokémon he caught during his entire Pokémon training career is laid to rest in this small plot of land when there time has come, it is believed that the Pokémon took their loyalty, friendship, and love to the grave where they would continue in the after life."

"Irvin wrote that," said Tesla, "I wonder if that last part was true."

"What are those letters symbolize?" Ash asked.

"They symbolized the first letter of the region the Pokémon were caught in, Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Unova. Irvin always gets the starting Pokémon when putting together a team in each region, they got their initial training back there but they get their _advanced _training up at that ranch. Irvin went through serious sh*t, like I said he steals Pokémon eggs to get the best loyalty out of them. And you know who did most of the snatching?"

"Who?" Brock asked.

"Me."

"Why could you do that!?" Misty asked, a bit shocked.

Tesla glared at her, "Cause I'm a f*cking Pokémon who was simply following orders. And for your information, they were my responsibility as well as Irvin's. These Pokémon looked up to me, we were all more than friends. I made sure they didn't feel the pain I felt when I was snatched out of my parent's arms by making them _think _we are their caretakers. They all know that we took them from their parents when they were eggs, they somehow sensed the outside world that we nabbed them and that was it. They know, Misty. They _know_."

The group walked into the cemetery and stand in the small courtyard, Ash noticed all the Pokémon, except Tesla, were shivering and murmuring unintelligible Pokémon speech. Even Mark's Pokémon was that frightened, "Okay," said Tesla, "Line up your Pokémon in a wall formation, then slightly compact so it would be difficult for anyone to pass through."

All the Pokémon lined up in front of their trainers and took a stand before the array of tombstones, they were becoming more scared than before, "Okay, guys," he talked to the trainers, "You line up in a wall formation and have your guns ready, that gate behind you is the only way out so my friends would be contained."

"What are we doing?" Iris asked.

"We're going to cleanse this graveyard," said Mark, "And its going to get ugly fast."

Ash glanced over the Unova section and skimmed through the grave markers. There was his grave, that Scrafty. It was just like the other tombstones, his egg-hatching and death date showed he was quite old. Below it was a small quick description:

"_Lost in madness, until his best friend opt him out."_

"What's the plan, Tesla?" he asked.

"We're going to let the Pokémon here fight off most of the Undead as you guys take potshots at the ones who abruptly charge forward, it's as simple as that."

"Oh boy," said Mark, "This is going to be interesting."

"Wait a second," said Misty, "They're going to climb out of their graves?"

"Yup," said Tesla, "Now, all we have to do is tickle their graves until they come out. Get ready, it could go up quite fast."

Misty and Iris held up their pistols, Cilan and Brock held up their submachine guns, and Ash and Mark held up their assault rifles. All weapons were suppressed, cocked, and the safety turned off. Tesla held up his submachine gun and walked in front of the group, he stared out at the graves and sighed, "Why am I doing this?" he asked himself.

He placed a hand on the ground and felt it, "Yeah," he said, "This graveyard's cursed, just like the one in Faraday City. They'll pop open any second now, but we don't have all day to wait."

"Here," said Mark, "This might work."

Tesla turned around and Mark tossed him a brown bottle, he caught it and examined it, "A Molotov cocktail?" the old Pikachu asked.

"Fire gets everything going." said Mark.

"You're an idiot, but its worth a try."

Tesla raised up his thumb and index finger and arched a current across it, the current glowed bluish-white light that threatened to blind everybody. Ash tried to look away, but the bright glow had already temporarily burned into his retinas. The old Pikachu touched the incendiary bottle's wick with the current and it lit, "Here goes nothing." said Tesla.

He threw the bottle towards the center of the graveyard, it smashed into one of the tombstones and burst into a bright orange fire ball. Within a few seconds, the earth started to tremor. The tremors grew into hard shaking, branches fell off the nearby trees and crashed to the nearby ground as Ash tried to keep his balance. The shaking only lasted about half a minute, then the ground began to churn below several grave markers.

One by one a sickly humanoid hand popped out of a grave, followed by the rotting remains of a Pokémon. Some of the flesh had rotted away, whatever colors they had in life were replaced with necrotic flesh and bluish-green flesh. Their faces and decayed skin had multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Others had deep lacerations that go straight to the bone, yet they don't bleed. They shift and popped their joints, commanding the muscles in their legs to move towards the closest food source.

Ash noticed that most of Irvin's Pokémon were small, some probably barely under 20 kilograms. The ones that had come up so far were bi-pedal, they growled and groaned in alien voices. None of them said the syllables of their name, not even tried to. Their jaws opened, revealing yellowed razor-sharp teeth as they stare out with red evil eyes.

"Hey guys," Tesla casually said as he stood calmly before his former friends, "It's me, Tesla. Remember?"

Many of Tesla's "friends" gave him a curious look, they seemed to remember. But that was just a leftover habit, they all resumed moaning sickly groans as they reached out towards him with flimsy decomposed arms.

"Oh come on, after all the times we had?"

The Undead Pokémon gnashed their teeth and growled, they began to pick up speed. Tesla shook his head and raised his M3A1, "I hoped you guys would remember more, sorry friends."

Tesla fired a single round into the Undead Pokémon closest to him, he turned to the rest of Ash's Pokémon and his friend's Pokémon and nod, "Use a special range attack, don't use an attack that involves physical contact whatsoever. These Undead Pokémon had been the ground far longer than Irvin had. Well, most of them."

The old Pikachu stepped out of the way as the 2nd wave of Undead Pokémon came up. They were a bit more diverse, but most were still bi-pedal. Ash didn't notice it right away, but he realized the Undead Pokémon coming up were common wild Pokémon found in their respected regions. Many flashbacks of encountering wild Pokémon in the past bombarded Ash's mind, he missed how the past was more friendlier than this nightmare.

Just when the Undead got close enough, Mark stepped up and took a deep breath, "Emolga," he called out to his Pokémon, "Hidden Power! The rest of you, Thundershock!"

Mark's Emolga summoned up a ball of green light and unleashed 3 energy spheres, the energy spheres shot across the graveyard and smashed into the Undead. It was a direct hit, some zombie Pokémon were blasted back with powerful force. The Undead Pokémon who weren't hit just ignored their fallen comrades, their eyes were locked up ahead. Mark's Pikachu, Plusle, and Minun glowed bright yellow and unleashed a triple-combo Thundershock. Yellow electricity arched over the graveyard and struck the Undead Pokémon, their blank expressions remain unchanged as their arms and legs jerked uncontrollably, like they were having a seizure.

When the Thundershock ceased, the Undead were charred and smoking. The smell of burned and cooked rotting flesh was overwhelming, Ash couched and wondered why he hadn't gotten used to the odor yet.

"Oh, the smell!" moaned Misty.

The fried zombies just got back up to their feet and kept on going, which didn't surprise Ash. Cilan, Misty, and Iris' jaws dropped, then they stepped in.

"Axew," cried Iris, "Use Dragon Rage!"

"Pansage," cried Cilan, "Use Seed Bomb!"

"Psyduck," cried Misty, "Water Gun!"

Ash felt sweat trail down his neck, he hoped his Pokémon's attacks were effective, "Pignite, Flamethrower! Oshawott, Water Gun! Snivy, Leaf Storm! Pikachu, Electro Ball!"

All the Pokémon unleashed everything they got into their special attack. A mixture of fire, grass, water, and dark energy roared straight for the Undead horde. A huge cloud of dust kicked up and engulfed the graveyard, obscuring everyone's view. Ash held his breath and waited for the dust cloud to fade, it took only a few seconds...

Revealing battered and injured Undead, still "alive" and still moving. Many of the Undead had their arms and legs either broken or blown off from the attacks, some of the Undead broke their backs but weren't fazed by the pain. They all simply crawled towards their pray, the Undead who escaped limb injury simply got back up and marched towards the group. Their jaws gaping open and hissing the sound of death.

"They're still coming!" cried Iris.

"Oshawott!" cried Oshawott.

"Axew!" cried Axew.

Axew and Oshawott spun around and ran past their trainers for a mad dash back to the technical, but Tesla barred their way in a nick of time, "They'll freaken track you down if you leave, try aiming higher when using a special attack on them. Focus on their heads!"

Tesla pushed the two back into the group of Pokémon, they all turn back towards their Undead variants who took their time making their way towards them. The paralyzed ones drag their legs as the walking ones limped on, their glowing red eyes seemed to glow brighter as they draw near.

Many thoughts raced in Ash's head, one of them was wondering why he was putting him and his Pokémon's lives on the line for this kind of work. Ash started to regret jumping straight in helping Tesla taking care of his dead friends, the old Mouse Pokémon played with his heart in persuading him . . . no, he _tricked _him. He didn't mention that his friends were already dead to begin with . . . oh, Ash remembered now. It was when they were going to put Irvin down where he agreed to help him with this . . . other problem.

_You are that clever, Tesla. _Ash thought.

He turned to Pikachu, who stared out towards the Undead Pokémon. The fur on his back stood straight up as he shivered in his bones, "Pikachu," said Ash, "Electro ball, this time go for a headshot!"

Pikachu stuck his tail up in the air and formed a ball of charged yellow plasma, "PikaCHU!" he chanted as he jumped straight into the air and swung the ball at the Undead with his tail.

The ball of plasma energy soared through the air like it was launched out of a cannon, it charged towards one of the Undead Pokémon as it staggered around. It didn't see the Electro Ball in time when it hit it in the face. The zombie's head glowed bright yellow, the skull-cap exploded and send a shower of black blood and brain matter high into the sky. When the light show ceased, the Undead flopped to the ground with blood oozing out where his skull had been.

"Nice shot, Pikachu!" Ash cheered.

"Pikachu." he blushed, sort of blushed.

With confidence restored, the other Pokémon adjusted their aim and unleashed a special ranged attack. Several heads exploded in bright fiery and electric spectaculars, the Undead began to fall more than they rise. It didn't take long for the group to put down the second wave, then the third wave came.

One of the graves in the Unova section burst open and spewed out a column of fire, probably going as high as a hundred meters. Ash jumped back and watched in horror as the geyser bubbled out what looked like lava, was there a volcano going active around here or something?

"Impossible," cried Mark, "The hotspot that formed Faraday Island had long since cooled down, we never had volcanic activity for a thousand years!"

A four-legged figure emerged from the lava. As it stepped out, the lava quickly cooled into rock. Ash couldn't believe his eyes. A monster no bigger than Pikachu had come up from the depths, its entire body burned in a bright orange fire. Its skin was burned off, revealing charred skeletal muscles. Its lips were burned off, revealing sharp teeth. It had all the characteristics of a Tepig.

But it wasn't a Tepig, not anymore.

"Teh-Pig!" the Undead Fire Pig Pokémon groaned in an unfamiliar alien voice.

Ash fished out his modified Pokédex and scanned the Tepig:

_Flamer_, the electronic voice says, _The mutated fire-type Undead Pokémon. The Flamer spits out balls of lava and flame at its enemies, cooking them before being eaten. The eternal fire that engulfs the Flamer's body regenerates muscle or skin damage by scarring over the wounds. Be warned that the Flamer explodes into a fireball when killed._

"Tepig," Tesla called out, "You seem a little hot, you need any medicine for your fever!?"

The Flamer shot a look at Tesla, it snarled its exposed teeth and charged at him. Tesla ran out and circled around the Flamer, it wheezed and unleashed a powerful Flamethrower attack. Tesla dodge-rolled in time, but a few Undead weren't lucky. They got singed by the attack and burned, but they didn't notice the damage done to them. As the group of Pokémon took care of the rest of the Undead, Tesla double-tapped his gun at the Flamer and the rounds penetrated its skull.

It let out a dying growl before flopping to its side, and explode into a awe-inspiring fiery mushroom cloud. The blast send a powerful heat wave in all directions, it was so hot that Ash felt his face dry up from the extreme heat. But nobody got fire or got burned, the brief moment of summer trickled back to winter, "SooWEE," cheered Mark as he stared up at the fireball, "We're going to have a bond fire tonight!"

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

Several lightning strikes grounded into the earth and into several graves, the bright flashes and explosions stunned Ash. He staggered back as a white glare engulfed his vision and his ears rang, he managed to glimpse his friends stumbling around, also disoriented from being temporarily blinded and deafened, "I can't hear myself think!" cried Cilan.

The Pokémon all suffered the same treatment. They either covered their eyes or ears, depending which sense got the worse treatment, Ash blinked as the glare slowly subsided. He looked out across the Pokémon graveyard and saw several graves erupting with electricity. In the Unova section, a familiar paw came out before the rest of the body. It was an Emolga, a horribly deteriorated Emolga. Its chest and belly were split open, revealing a bare rib cage and necrotic organs underneath. It staggered on its hind legs and looked out at the group. Electricity spark out of its body in all directions, like it was looking for a way to escape.

"Eeemolga." the Undead Sky Squirrel Pokémon croaked.

"Electro's inbound," Tesla cried, "Shoot them before they get too close!"

"How many are there!?" cried Brock.

"Five!"

Mark's Emolga gasped at seeing another member of her own kind Undead, she looked away hid behind Mark's Pikachu. The trainer aimed his shotgun at the Electro and fired, the slug round spewed out of the shotgun with a sound of an air cannon. The kinetic energy of the .12 gauge slug burrowed into the Electro's brain and it exploded, huge sparks and Ozone gas flied everywhere as its remains became fertilizer for the soil.

"Target down." Mark calmly say.

Ash squeezed his eyes shut and turned away, "I think I'm going to need sunglasses for putting those Electros down."

"I have a few pairs back in the technical."

"No thank you, Mark."

An Undead Mareep, Luxio, Pachirisu, and Joltik emerged from their graves. All sparked mad electricity and smelled of strong Ozone. Ash took aim with his AR-15 and fired fired at them, each time he scored a headshot they would collapse and explode. Just before each one burst into a ball of light, Ash quickly look away and saved himself from being blinded.

"I think I'm going to be cross-eyed after this." Mark moaned.

"Don't look directly at them, Mark." said Ash.

"That's not what's bothering me."

"What is?"

"I think I need a new change of underpants."

"Damn it, Mark!" Tesla swore at him.

Another grave burst open, this time it was an Undead Axew. The Undead Tusk Pokémon was mostly stripped of flesh, its belly had rotted away to reveal necrotic organs hanging out. One of its arms had rotted away, the other was stripped of any skin and scales. What was more terrifying was its lips and cheeks had rotted off, giving the Axew a semi-skeletal face. Its red eyes glared out towards its living counterpart, whose throat was choked up with sudden fright.

The Undead Axew snarled its exposed teeth and pulled back its remaining hand. The three claws on it glowed solid white, then it charged on its two feet. Though it was mostly a jog, it was almost close to being counted as running, "They still remember their training!" cried Ash.

Mark raised up his shotgun at the Undead Axew and fired. The first shot blew off half its face, creating a sickly cavity. It staggered and flopped down, but it still moved. Mark fired another round and it blew out the back of the Undead Axew's head, this time it was a kill shot.

Iris' Axew breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long.

The ground shook again, but not strong as last time. It was enough to rattle the trees and anything that moves. The tremors didn't last long, it ceased within a few seconds, "Get ready," said Tesla, "Here comes the boss."

"So much for playing video games." said Mark, rolling his eyes.

Nothing happened at first. The group all held their breath, the trainers clutched their weapons as their Pokémon held their ground. Waiting for something to move. All that was there were rotting corpses of Undead Pokémon, laying all over the place. It looked more like a massacre, the sight of it chilled Ash to the bone.

One grave burst open, the one Ash had been cautiously eying for a while. The one that contained the body of one of the most ruthless Pokémon who ever lived. The Undead Scrafty poked his head out, then climbed out of his grave. His body was riddled with bullet holes, mostly in the chest and belly. Unlike the other Undead Pokémon, the Undead Scrafty was more intact. Due to the fact that he was the most recent diseased Pokémon buried here.

"Nobark," said Tesla, "Damn it, why does it always have to be you?"

Nobark wheezed and let out a familiar battle cry in a ghoulish distorted voice, "Rebel . . . against the _human_ race!"

Just before Ash could turn his gun on him, Nobark pulled out a crowbar. It was 45cm long and was spray-painted bright red, the Undead Hoodlum Pokémon wield the crowbar like it was a sword and charged – with red eyes glowing bright.

"Where did he get a crowbar!?" Brock cried.

"F*ck I know," said Tesla, "A lot of the tools Irvin bought goes missing and turn up in the most unusual places, maybe he somehow got buried with it."

Ash fired a round, the bullet struck Nobark in the head. The Undead Scrafty's head shot back, but rebalanced itself. The bullet had bounced off Nobark's thick skull, shrugging it off like it was a pebble. Ash fired a few more rounds, all scored a direct hit. Nobark took the shots and shrugged them off, he let out a sheer cry of anger gripped the crowbar with both hands.

"His head his bulletproof!" cried Mark.

Nobark stopped short of the group and sucked in air, he unleashed a huge glob of purple fluid from his mouth and it soared towards the group. The Pokémon and their trainers yelped and scrambled out-of-the-way, the purple fluid landed where they once stood and formed a huge bubbly puddle. It simmered like a fresh soda drink and smelled like rancid acid, Ash covered his nose from the burning putrid smell.

"Don't touch that," cried Tesla, "That's poison!"

Psyduck stumbled on his feet and landed on his rear, Nobark noticed him and growled. He raised his crowbar and charged at the Duck Pokémon as fast as his feet could run. Psyduck wasn't absent-minded this time, he saw Nobark coming. The Duck Pokémon used confusion to thwart the Undead Hoodlum Pokémon's advance. Purple rays engulfed Nobark, but it lasted for a brief second. It did no good, he snarled as he closed in.

The toxic purple goo prevented anyone from running in to help, and the trainers weren't fast enough to draw their weapons. Psyduck's eyes crossed when Nobark got on top of him, he took the claw end of the crowbar and plunged it into the Duck Pokémon's belly with all of his strength. Psyduck let out a mournful scream as Nobark ripped the crowbar out, taking his victim's intestines with it. Blood and feces spewed everywhere, Cilan and Brock had to old Misty back to prevent her from coming to a fruitless rescue, "Psyduck, no!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Psyduck wheezed as he struggled to focus, he tried to get away when Nobark pinned him down with his foot. The Undead took the chisel end of his crowbar and jammed it into Psyduck's neck, severing one of the major arteries. Bright red blood hissed out like a fountain from the lacerated blood vessel, the grass near Psyduck were showered with his blood until a fine coat formed. The Duck Pokémon gasped his final breath and passed out.

Nobark pulled the crowbar out, clearly not satisfied with his kill. He turned towards the group and shot his red eyes towards them, the look on his face showed he was itching for more death.

The purple puddles evaporated and disappeared, Mark raised his shotgun and aimed it at Nobark. The Undead Hoodlum Pokémon pulled up his pelt straight up to his neck. Mark fired. The slug round struck Nobark in the center mass, he grunted as he was driven back a meter. The .12 gauge slug round simply bounced off the pelt without harm, not even leaving a mark behind. It flied off and ricochet into a nearby tree, blowing straight through it in a shower of splinters.

"Tough bastard!" Mark growled.

Nobark angrily snarled and charged at Mark, the zombie Scrafty was so fast there was little time to react. The Undead Hoodlum Pokémon headbutted Mark in his abdomen, he launched up into the air as his hand death gripped his shotgun, "DAMN YOUUUU!" Mark humorously cried as he soared through the air and disappeared into the trees.

Several trees snapped and broke from Mark's fall, the Faraday Island resident moaned in pain. Mark's Emolga, Pikachu, Plusle, and Minun screamed in sheer panic and went after him. They ran out of the cemetery and vanished into the forest's foliage.

The rest of the group fired their guns at Nobark, the bullets either struck him in the chest, missed him entirely, or simply bounced off his head. Nobark charged again, this time at Pansage.

"Use Solar Beam, Pansage!" cried Cilan.

The Grass Monkey Pokémon summoned up an aura of light and unleashed it all at once at Nobark, "PanSAAGE!"

Nobark dodge-rolled in a split second, catching Pansage off guard as he rushed in and smashed the crowbar into his temple. The blow made Pansage staggered backwards and fell on his back, "Pan . . . sage." he managed to moan before passing out.

"Pansage!" Cilan cried, almost screaming like a little girl.

He flipped his M3A1 to fully-auto and unleashed a full clip upon Nobark, the spray of bullets shred into his torso and pelt off his head. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to drive the Undead Pokémon back.

Nobark glared at Cilan and let out a roar, just before he could charge again Tesla rushed up to him. The old Pikachu's tail turned to steel before he swung it straight at Nobark's face, the blow knocked the Undead Hoodlum Pokémon back. He fumbled on his feet as Tesla charged at him again. Nobark quickly regained his balance and swung the crowbar at Tesla, the old Pikachu caught the crowbar mid-swing. He grabbed it with both hands and thrust it into Nobark's face, the Undead Hoodlum Pokémon lost his grip and staggered back again.

He stumbled on his feet and spun around, Tesla rushed up to him with the crowbar and whacked Nobark in the back of the head. Nobark went down instantly, but he wasn't out yet, "Pin him down!" Tesla cried.

Pikachu, Oshawott, Snivy, and Scraggy rushed in and each held down a limb. Nobark gnashed his teeth as he growled and snarled, struggling to break free. With all their strength, the Pokémon held Nobark down the best they could. Tesla got on Nobark's back and raised the crowbar, then smashed it down on his head. The crowbar's claw clanged on the back of Nobark's skull, but didn't penetrate through. Tesla whacked his head several more times but the crowbar failed to break through the skull.

"Why," Tesla grunted every time he strike Nobark's ridiculously hard skull, "Is _(thonk)_ a Scrafty's _(thonk)_ head is so _(thonk)_ F*CKING HARD!?"

Tesla strike Nobark's skull one last time before giving up, the Undead Hoodlum Pokémon continued to struggle and growl inhumanly. The old Pikachu got off Nobark's back and pant, "If we can't break the skull, we'll cut off his head!"

He turned towards Brock, "Where's your fire ax?"

"I didn't bring it with me!" Brock cried.

"Leave it to me." said Mark.

Mark strolled up, armed with a hunting knife. He got on Nobark's back and held down his head with one hand, Mark gripped the hunting knife and jammed it into the top of the Undead Pokémon's neck.

Nobark yelped as the knife penetrated deep into his brain stem, Mark pressed the knife deeper to further the damage. Finally he gave the knife a sharp twist, a bone sounded a loud pop that cracked through the air. Nobark hissed before relaxing his muscles, signaling the end of his torment.

The Pokémon released their grip from him, Nobark remained still as Mark pulled the knife out, "There's a hole in the bottom of every skull," Mark explained as he wiped the blood of his knife on Nobark's pelt, "That's where your spinal cord goes through to connect to the brain, that's where I stabbed him to make the kill."

Tesla raised an eyebrow, "You sound like you done this before."

Mark chuckled, "I seen it on TV last August, that was a great show."

The group gathered around Nobark's body as Tesla stood over it, he held up the crowbar and stared at it for a moment, "I should had shot him in the head to begin with, so he wouldn't have come back."

"You didn't know, Tesla." said Ash.

"Yes . . . I didn't know at all."

Cilan rushed over to Pansage and picked him up, "Pansage, are you okay!?"

"Ugh..." Pansage let out a moan, "Pansage..."

Ash looked around and took a deep breath, that cleanup job didn't turn out well at all. The last had no severe injuries or deaths, but this was a different story. One of their Pokémon had died, another injured. Ash felt like he wanted to cry, but he held in his tears. It was too soon to cry.

But that didn't stop Misty, she walked up to Psyduck and dropped to her knees. Then broke down in tears. The other trainers and Pokémon felt like crying, but not Tesla or Mark. They had seen enough of their loved ones come back, the look on their face showed that they took it in stride.

Psyduck stirred, Misty looked up and saw him move. His eyes opened, they glowed bright florescent red. Misty quickly got up and shot back as Psyduck sat up, his intestines spilled onto his lap and oozed out blood and feces. The Duck Pokémon felt no pain, nor emotion. He was Undead.

He managed to get back on his feet, Psyduck let out a moan before limping forward. Before the newly made zombie could take its first step of its after-life, Tesla rushed up and caught the Undead Psyduck's foot with the crowbar's claw. He pulled Psyduck down with ease, then thrust the crowbar's chisel end straight into his back. Tesla pressed the crowbar down and embed Psyduck to the earth. Blood gushed out from the sudden takedown, but not as much was spilled this time.

"Misty," said Tesla, "Your gun, please."

Misty sheepishly held out her pistol and gave it to Tesla, he pulled out the magazine and gave it back to the trainer. She took it, then glanced over at the Undead Psyduck, it squirmed its arms and legs as it let out soft grunts. Its red eyes stared blankly towards space.

"Take as much time as you need," said Tesla, "We'll be at the farmhouse when you're done."

Misty didn't say anything, she dropped back to her knees and held her head down. Silently mourning the end of Psyduck's death. Cilan clutched Pansage as he started down the road, Iris and Brock followed without saying a word. The Pokémon gave one last look at Psyduck before they caught up with them. Mark holstered his knife and head towards the entrance, he picked up his shotgun and strapped its sling around his shoulder. He let a loud sharp whistle, his Pokémon instantly jogged towards him and stayed close.

Tesla retrieved his submachine gun before walking back towards the house, he didn't look back or say anything. He just kept right on walking, not even stopping for a moment to process his thoughts of the group's losses.

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered.

Ash looked down and saw his Pikachu sitting upright at him, holding his arms up towards him. He reached down and picked up the Mouse Pokémon, Pikachu rest his head on Ash's shoulder as he cradled him in his arms. Ash glanced back at Misty, she whimpered softly as the Undead Psyduck struggled to break free from its impalement.

"Misty," Ash began to say, "I'm-"

"Just go, Ash," Misty said with an authoritative voice, her eyes remained locked on her former Pokémon, "Please, just go. I'll meet up with you and the others later. Just, give me a moment."

Ash silently nodded and head back to the farmhouse, he didn't look back.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	33. Ch 33: A Good Hot Shower

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXIII_

_A Good Hot Shower_

When Ash approached the farmhouse, he noticed some unusual features. The windows had security bars and tinted film, there was no possible way to either see through the windows or force their way in. The front door had a grated screen door, it showed no sign it had been tampered with. There was a keypad and bio-metric lock built into the wall next to the door, it may be the only way in.

"Security surveillance?" Mark asked.

Ash looked up and noticed a small security camera, covered by a tinted dome.

"Yup," said Tesla, "Irvin's idea. There's a camera pointed at each strategic spot on this property, I'll show you the cool part about it once we get inside."

"How do we get inside?" Iris asked, "This is an electronic lock, the power had been off for a month."

"This place produces its own power," said Tesla, "That keypad is built into the security system, which has its own energy storage and solar panel and wind turbine. Would you please pick me up so I can access the keypad?"

"Sure."

Iris picked Tesla up and held him up to the keypad, first he typed in a 4-digit combination on the keypad, then placed his thumb on the bio-metric scanner. A green light appeared on the keypad, followed by several locks disengaging in the door.

"We're in." said Tesla.

"What was the password?" Ash asked.

"The year I became Irvin's primary companion."

"Pikachu." Pikachu sounded amazed.

Iris put Tesla down and he stepped back. Mark raised his shotgun at the door and got into position, "Someone yank that door open, there's no telling whose inside."

Brock opened up the screen door and turned the doorknob, but didn't push through, "Tell me when."

Mark took aim and centered his sights, "Now."

Brock pushed the door open and jumped back, Mark slowly stepped in as Emolga shivered on his shoulder. Ash held his breath and waited for a few seconds, hoping there wasn't anything nasty inside, "Okay," said Mark, "Nobody's here."

"Shouldn't be," said Tesla, "Your grandfather swings by once in a while to maintain the place, maybe you'll be its next caretaker."

Mark shrugged, "Maybe."

The group quickly walked inside, Ash shut the door behind him and took a deep breath. He felt the anxiety ease away just a little, not enough to lower his awareness but enough to relax his nerves.

"Wow," said Iris, "This place is nice!"

"Axew!" Axew agreed.

Mark had out his flashlight and looked around the place, the light revealed a wooden textured floor, ceiling, and walls. Giving a cabin-like atmosphere to the place. The furniture were also wooden, most still had the bark texture on the sides. The living room had 3 couches, big enough to seat 3 people each. They surround a wooden coffee table, which sits in front of a massive LED TV mounted on the wall.

Ash tried to flip a light switch, nothing.

"It's so dark in here," said Mark, "Are those blackout curtains?"

"Sure is," said Tesla, "Great insulators too."

"Why is the power off?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu translated.

"Nobody's using it," said Tesla, "The fuse box should be in the hallway, the control panel that runs the AC and heating system should be next to it."

Tesla looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "That awful smell this place used to hold, its long gone. I missed it."

"What smell?" Brock asked.

"The body odor of my Pokémon friends was so strong, you can smell the house before you see it. It smelled similar to what they smell now."

Mark followed the beam of his flashlight into the hallway, Ash followed behind to see where he was headed. He found him standing before the breaker box, Emolga held his flashlight for him as he opened up the access panel, "Okay," said Mark, "This should be it right here."

He flipped a couple of switches, then something started giving off a glow in the darkness, "You got it?" Ash asked.

"I think I got it." said Mark.

Ash reached over to the nearby switch and flipped it, the lights instantly came on and illuminated the room, "Okay, now what just came on back there?"

Mark went over to the source of the glowing, "The AC panel, a pretty hi-tech one too. This is set to 20 degrees Celsius, you want it to be warmer?"

"We gotta conserve the power guys." said Tesla from the other room.

Mark went silent for a moment, "Of course, power isn't limitless as it once was."

Ash walked back into the living room and found Brock working on the TV, all the Pokémon managed to squeeze themselves in one of the couches as the trainers rested on the couch. Tesla stood on the coffee table, watching Brock as he fumbled with the TV's controls, "Okay," he said, "I think I got it."

When the TV came on, it pulled up video footage just outside the front door. Ash could see the technical parked out on the road outside, the picturesque quality of the video was a wonder to look at, "There's the special surprise," said Tesla, "Every 10 seconds or so, the screen will switch to a different camera feed at random. We'll be able to get a 360 degree view of the property and get early warning to outside threats, if you hit the pause button on the TV remote you'll stay on a certain video feed until you press the play button – resuming the pattern."

"Why does your trainer have such serious security in this place?" Brock asked.

"His father's a doomsday prepper, he thought the end of the world was not to far ahead. So he prepared this place, spending a lot of his savings in getting all set up. Irvin learned wilderness survival and primitive living from him, he continued the family tradition until he too had passed. Well, the end of the world has arrived and we now have this place. I guess its money well spent."

Ash chuckled, "Before the apocalypse, I would say your trainer was crazy."

"Can't blame you for that, Irvin's quite attached to this place since family's all that mattered. His childhood home, a fortress that once housed him and his Pokémon. I think somewhere around here, there are compact disks containing some video footage of our old glory days. They are crazy as they are hilarious."

"I wanna see those," said Mark, "I wanna _really _know why this place once smelled like Pokémon BO."

On the TV, Ash saw Misty approaching the house. Her head was down as he walked sluggishly across the yard. She clutched her gun in her hand, shaking it hard. Ash walked up to the door and opened it, Misty stepped inside with a blank stare. She sat down on the couch without saying a word, staring at the TV screen before her. Ash locked the screen door and regular door, then checked the doorknob to see if they're locked up tight.

"Was it fast for him?" Brock asked.

"Yes." Misty muttered.

Cilan came into the room, holding Pansage in his arms. The Grass Monkey Pokémon's head was bandaged up with gauze, the gauze looked like it was wrapped up tight, "I found the First Aid Kit," said Cilan, "I couldn't find any medicine."

"Different room," said Tesla, "Chances are its in the laundry room, we keep all the medicine there."

"Pansage." Pansage muttered under his breath."

"Mark," said Brock, "Let me see your flashlight."

Mark handed the flashlight to him, "Here."

Brock took the flashlight as Cilan sat Pansage down on the couch, he shined the light into one of his eyes and checked the dilation of his pupils, "Looks like a concussion," said Brock, "If there's any bleeding in the brain, we're in big trouble."

"Surgical tools are in the laundry room as well," said Tesla, "We even have a special drill that can cut a skull cap off, if you can use those tools then we would be in the clear."

"You have anesthesia, respirators?"

"Have everything you need to perform a surgery. You know, this place even has its own well. We have a solar water heater and a regular propane water heater."

All the trainer's and Pokémon's eyes lit up, even Misty, "Hot water?" she asked.

"And a custom-built shower," Tesla added, "The shower's big enough to fit 8 people."

"What about the laundry?" Mark asked.

"You can laundry as well, but please use cold water only. Hmm, I think the washer only has cold water connected to it anyway."

"More hot water for the shower."

All the Pokémon jumped up and cheered, even Pansage cheered at the top of his lungs despite the head injury. Brock sat up and handed the flashlight back to Mark, "Who wants to go first in the shower?"

"Wash the Pokémon first," said Tesla, "We can pile most of them into the shower all at one time."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded.

"But it won't fit all the Pokémon though, some Pokémon would have to be left out."

"When it's my turn," said Mark, "My Pokémon will bathe with me."

"Emolga." Emolga nodded.

Misty raised an eyebrow, "You bathe with your Pokémon?"

"Yeah, why?"

Everyone didn't say a word, they just stared at Mark with disbelief. He grumped and sat down on the couch, Emolga, Plusle, and Minun huddled up beside him and snuggled under his arms.

"Mark," said Tesla, "If you're going to wash your Pokémon, I recommend scrubbing their rears because . . . that."

The old Pikachu pointed towards his descendent, everyone turned and saw Mark's Pikachu skidding her rear on the floor. He used her arms to push herself as she skid across the room on the wooden floor, "Pikachu." she cried, trying to relief the itch on her butt.

Ash couldn't help but laugh, the other trainers caught on and laugh as well. Even the Pokémon could help but break down and laugh. The laughing went on for a few minutes, then Tesla turned to the Pokémon, "Okay, you guys go first."

**. . .**

Ash's Pokémon and Axew get to enjoy the shower first, however it wasn't what they expect. Yes, it was able to hold 8 human beings. Yes, it was also had its own room that was about 3 square meters. The difference everyone complained was the rate of water flow and the shower head. Instead of coming out of a single faucet, it came straight out of the ceiling through a couple dozen tiny pours, pouring out in a drip fashion. Instead of the usual 10 liters per minute, the flow was an absurd 2 liters per minute.

Nonetheless the Pokémon enjoyed it the most. Soap bars were past around as trickles of water fell from the ceiling, splashing over the Pokémon and washed away a month of built-up filth. Scraggy took a soap bar and washed the inside of his pelt, Oshawott manged to find a spare toothbrush to clean his scallop with. Pikachu almost sang in the shower, he felt the dandruff shampoo work its magic as it liberated his undercoat from loose fur.

Once the Pokémon were done shampooing, they burst out laughing when they saw what Scraggy had done. He had taken his sagging pelt and filled it up to the brim with water, The Shedding Pokémon held it up in such a way that he looked like the Scraggy-version of Santa Clause. He strut about and did a funny dance, half the Pokémon drop to the floor – crippled with laughter.

And just when things couldn't get more hilarious, Scraggy's hands slipped. The weight of all that water forced its way down, his pelt turned inside out as the brim folded to his ankles with a mighty splash. It made his pelt look like more of a skirt than loose pants.

Scraggy wasn't embarrassed, he just laughed it off. He reached down and tried to pull his pelt back up, only to learn that it was stiffed in place.

Snivy shut off the water and everyone got out. Oshawott sat the toothbrush down and put his scallop back on his bellybutton, he adjust it so it would line up perfectly – taking great care not to damage it. When he got it on, he looked up and saw Pignite hanging on to Scraggy's legs as the other Pokémon grabbed his "skirt."

With a mighty pull, the Pokémon managed to get Scraggy's pelt back up.

After he thanked his friends for helping him with his accident, Snivy grabbed a single towel and dried herself off. She passed it to the other Pokémon and they took turns drying themselves off, thankfully not wiping their rears on the towel like slobs on a Saturday afternoon.

The Pokémon trainers all dropped their backpacks to the side and stripped down to the underwear, they all piled their clothes into the washing machine and added the laundry detergent and fabric softener. They set it to wash for two hours, believing they had all the time in the world to relax. Misty was the first to go, she walked into the shower and shut the door behind her.

As Iris waited her turn, Tesla crawled up to her, "You have a minute, Iris?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Tesla, "What do you need?"

"We gotta do something about your hair, its a meter long and a magnet to clamping hands flying its way."

"You mean we have to cut my hair?"

"If I were a complete asshole trying to get a hold of you, what would be the first thing I would see to make a grab for? Think about that for a moment, what if it was a Walker instead?"

Iris thought about it for a moment, she frowned, "I see your point. But what about Axew, how am I suppose to carry him?"

"Pikachu managed well for sitting on Ash's shoulder, and so did I on my trainer. It would be a major inconvenience, I hate to see him get tangled in that hair of yours when the hordes are literally on top of you."

"Okay then . . . where's the trimmer?"

"In the kitchen."

"How short does it have to be?"

"At least a centimeter around the sides, and 2.5 centimeters on the top. That way it won't be easily grabbed."

Iris head back to the living room and found Cilan, who was busy nursing Pansage. The Grass Monkey Pokémon laid back and breathed slowly as he slept, he can do fine by himself for a few minutes, "Hey, Cilan," she asked, "I need your help with something."

"What is it, Iris?" he asked.

"I need you to cut my hair, short as yours."

"Why?"

"It's not safe, not in this new world."

"Sure, Iris."

Cilan and Iris walked into the kitchen, she pulled up a chair and sat down in it. He managed to find the hair trimmer, it was in perfect condition. Cilan plugged it into the wall as Iris told him the instructions in what to do. He flipped on a light switch and the whole kitchen brightened. With enough light illuminating the room, Cilan started up the trimmer and began to shave Iris' head.

It took thirty minutes, there was so much hair that there were huge clumps of it the size of a loaf of bread. Iris squeezed her eyes shut and waited, she felt the weight of all that hair coming right off her head with each passing trim. Cilan did his best and styled it, similar to how Misty had her hair but without the pony tail. When he was done, Cilan held up the mirror in front of Iris, "What do you think?"

"Wow," she said, "All that weight from my hair gone is more noticeable than how it looks. Thanks, Cilan."

"No problem, Iris."

When Misty was done, Iris crept into the shower as soon as she left. She quickly took notice of Iris' trimmed air, it caught her attention so well that Misty kept right on walking and eventually bumped into the wall.

Cilan sweep up all of Iris' bunches of hair, he sat aside the hair bands and clips on the counter before stuffing all the purple hair into a trash bag. He tied a knot in the bag then sat it aside for disposal later. He glanced over to the refrigerator and wondered if there was any food inside, Cilan approached it and opened one of the fridge compartment.

To his disappointment, there was no food at all. The fridge was stuffed with Energizer batteries, containing all types of cells. It even have the tiny Lithium batteries for hearing aids. Cilan's jaw dropped, "Batteries . . . this fridge is full of batteries."

He opened up the freezer door and looked inside, "And the freezer's full of the rechargeable kind. Oh, come on!"

Frustrated from his find, Cilan slammed the fridge doors shut and walked off into the next room.

After Iris finished the shower, Mark had a turn. His Pokémon huddled close to him as he approached the shower. Just as Iris left, she tossed the towel to him, "It pours quite fine."

"I'll believe it till I see it." Mark replied.

He walked into the room and hopped into the shower, his Pokémon crawled right in as he stripped off his camouflaged boxers. After tossing them and the used towel to the floor, Mark started up the shower. When he felt the water hit him, he refrained from singing a high note.

"This worth's its weight in gold." he grinned.

Mark sat down on the shower floor and got busy scrubbing his Pokémon's ears and face, and the butt in the case of his Pikachu. They all sang a tune Mark had heard a dozen times, he wasn't too sure what it was but the song was quite catchy. After washing the suds off of his Pokémon, they all jumped on him and latched their wet furry bodies onto his skin. Mark laughed it off as he struggled to wash his hair, but Emolga and his Pikachu kept getting their tails in his face.

"I suppose you have a reason for being on my shoulders all at once," he said to them, "Cause that's not how having a shower works."

When Mark was finished, he shuts off the water and stepped out – to much of his Pokémon's dismay. He pulled them off his body and dried them with the towel. Mark knew he couldn't get them completely dry with just the towel alone, he needed a hair dryer. Maybe there was one stashed away somewhere in the farmhouse.

Mark slipped his boxers back on and sat the towel aside, his Pokémon followed him out as Brock took his turn.

"So where's the hair dryer?" Mark asked himself.

Mark walked into the next room, it contained just the toilet and sink. He crouched down before the sink cabinet and opened it up. Inside there were many boxes of toothpaste, packets of toothbrushes, cans of shaving cream, and several packages of disposable safety razors. Mark felt his face, it felt like it needs a shave. So he tore open a package and pulled out a safety razor, then grabbed a can of shaving cream. He turned on the sink, filled it with water, and coated his face with shaving cream.

"At least I get to feel human for once," he muttered to himself as he stroke the razor down his cheek, "F*ck, what is still human anymore?"

After he shaved his face, Mark washed off all the excess shaving cream. He got down again and put the shaving cream back, then grabbed a toothbrush and a roll of toothpaste, "No way I'm having teeth like Tesla's," he said to himself, "Not in this world."

"Emolga?" the Sky Squirrel Pokémon chirped at him.

"Just got to take care of a few things, Emolga," said Mark as he added some toothpaste to the brush head, "Go ask Tesla if there's a hair dryer you can use, or go take a spin in the dryer if you want . . . ignore that last part."

His Pokémon wondered out of the bathroom to leave their trainer finish up. They didn't get far, they head back to the living room and crawled up on the couch. Mark's Pokémon simply laid back and cuddled each other, then fell asleep.

Cilan wondered into the laundry room and checked the washing machine. It was just about done, the laundry was just going through its last few cycles. Cilan glanced at the wooden textured wall, he found an ironing board hanging off of a hook. With the laundry going, why not iron the clothes? Not only will they be fresh and clean, but free from wrinkles. That was a good idea.

He unhinged it from the wall and unfolded the legs, then let it stand. The return of the comfort feeling of home was brief, sudden and lost within a second. Cilan stared at the ironing board for a moment, the towel texture of its surface seemed pretty. Though it was just a clean bathroom towel strapped to the ironing board with rubber bands. Having a clean surface to work on was a blessing, the Carson Pokémon Center was becoming more of a warehouse than a hospital.

With the ironing board set up, now all he needed was the iron itself. He looked up at the wooden shelves and found the iron, he reached up and grabbed it off the shelf. The iron was 35cm at the base with a transparent water reservoir built into the handle. It was in good condition. In fact, it didn't appeared to be used ever.

Cilan unraveled its cord and plugged it into the wall, then stand it on the ironing board, "Now I just have to wait till the iron warm."

Two rapid beeps sounded, followed by a 3 second tone. Cilan turned and noticed the washing machine was done. He opened up the front-loading door and pulled out the clothes, then shoved it all into the clothes dryer. He set the dryer to Delicate and turned down the heat, in fear he may "shrink" the clothes during the drying cycles.

Cilan chuckled at the thought, he shut the dryer door and started it up. It roared to life and began tumbling the clothes inside its rotatory drum, Cilan left the room and let the machine do its work. He head out into the hall and saw Brock stepping out of the shower room, Cilan discreetly slipped inside and shut the door behind him.

Brock walked upstairs and checked out the bedroom, he opened the door and peaked inside. There was a standard two-person bed, with two ordinary table lamps and wooden night stands. What was eye-catching was the wall shelves, the shelves stood from floor to ceiling and were packed with all kinds of survival gear. Flashlights, weather radios, boxes of ammunition, gas masks, all sorts of tangibles and equipment of what a doomsday prepper would have in his or her bedroom.

He stared at the shelf for 5 minutes, wowed by the sheer volume of supplies. These weren't the cheap kind either, they're designed to work for years! Brock made a mental note to show the others later, this was worth checking out.

Brock turned his attention to the Cedar footlocker at the front of the bed, he crouched down and opened it up. It was stuffed with a mixture of paperback and hardback books. He reached in and pulled out a book and examined it, squinting his eyes to get a better view of the details.

"Not the kind of book I would pick out." Brock said to himself.

He sat the book back inside the footlocker, just as he was about to close it something caught his eye. It was a gray book with a rubber texture cover, Brock reached in and grabbed it. The first thing he saw on the cover was a picture of a cartoon zombie's silhouette, its arms spread wide and flailing about.

Brock read the cover out loud, "_The Undead Nightmare Survival Guide_, by..." He stopped short when he saw who was the author, his eyes shot wide open from the shock, "You gotta be kidding me!"

**. . .**

Ash relaxed as he let the water pour over him, the heat and the steam from the shower relaxed his muscles and cleared out his pours. As he washed his hair with the anti-dandruff shampoo, he listened to the hiss of the custom-built shower as he rubs the soap bar under his armpits – and the sensitive area.

He forgotten what it meant to be human. It was all about survival back at the Pokémon Center, here it was all about living. This farmhouse Tesla brought the group to. In reward for putting down his friends, he invited them into his trainer's childhood home and let them wash and clean themselves up. How nice of him. Tesla had a heart of gold and compassion, but Ash knew the old Pikachu's heart was scarred by decades of anger and self-abuse. With Tesla ripe with old age, he probably wanted to do some good for once.

And that was something he surely did.

Ash washed off all the suds off his body and shuts off the water, he stood there for a moment. He thought of his mom and his friends, they would like it here alright. It was away from the chaos, away from the dead, the Westinghouse farm or ranch – whatever it was called – was the perfect base.

His hand reached out and pulled back the glass shower doors, Ash stepped out and grabbed the towel. He dried himself off on almost every part of his body, Ash wiped his hair and tossed the towel aside. He then slipped his underpants back on before stepping out of the shower room.

Tesla was right next to the door, holding up a barely awake Pansage. Ash almost walked into them until he saw them at the last minute, "You're done?" Tesla asked.

"Yeah," said Ash, "I am. You're taking Pansage into the shower?"

"He may need help, the blow to his head made his feet all looney."

"Pan." the Grass Monkey Pokémon muttered.

Ash nodded, "Take your time, you guys."

Tesla and Pansage walked into the shower room and shut the door behind them. Ash head back to the living room and saw Mark taking up an entire couch, his Pokémon huddled close to him. Ash's own Pokémon sat on the other couch, staring up at the TV watching the live surveillance footage. Brock, Iris, and Misty also stared at the TV, their eyes glued to it as if they were watching a movie. Axew laid on the foot of the couch, his mouth gaped open as he snored softly in his sleep.

"Any Undead out there?" Ash asked.

"So far it's been empty." said Iris.

"Ash," said Brock, "Look at this."

Brock tossed a small book to Ash, he caught it and read the cover, "A survival guide for the zombie apocalypse?" Ash asked.

"Look who wrote it."

Ash checked the author of the book, his eyes widened, "Tesla written this!?"

"I found it in a trunk full of books, I'm beginning to think Tesla knew something about the zombie apocalypse long before we were born."

Ash's Pokémon scooted to make room as their trainer sat down between them, he skimmed through the chapters of the book. The book talked about being on the offensive and defensive against the Undead, as well as finding food and water. A lot of the stuff Ash found were stuff Tesla had already taught, there was a chapter that clearly states the importance of teaching Pokémon firearms.

"_The knowledge to use human instruments of mass destruction is vital for a Pokémon to survive this new world," _Tesla had wrote, _"It takes a lot of energy to use their conventional special attacks, most of whom are either inadequate or not so accurate when targeting the skull of a Walker."_

"I knew he had written the book to begin with." Mark said.

Ash closed the book and tossed it to Mark, "That explains where you got the term Walker."

Mark shrugged, "Eh, one of the reasons."

"Emolga." Emolga shrugged as well.

Ash stared at the TV, watching the view angle change every 10 seconds. He unconsciously pulled out a bit of fuss from the couch and smoothed it back down. The couch was quite soft and comfortable, he could sleep on this for the night. Pikachu scooted up and snuggled right beside him, Ash pulled him under his arm and rubbed the back of the Mouse Pokémon's ears. He cooed softly as he rested his head up beside Ash. Ah yes, the memories of the days with him and his buddy were coming back.

"This place is beautiful," said Ash, "Completely untouched by the chaos of the apocalypse, its quite a nice safe haven."

Mark turned over on the couch and pressed his face against the cushions, his Pokémon adjusted as well and tried to rest, "Hey guys," said Mark, "Smell the couches, they have an interesting smell to them."

Ash pressed his nose against the couch and smelled it, "It smells like chocolate."

"Yeah," said Brock as he smelled the other couch, "It does."

"I wonder what the atmosphere in here smelled like." Mark thought out loud.

Cilan came walking back into the room, he carried a basket filled with everybody's clothes. He sat the basket on the coffee table and nodded, "Okay," said Cilan, "Pick out your clothes. Don't bother putting your shoes on, cause I think we're going to spend the night here."

"Oh boy!" Iris cheered, she shot up from the couch and sank her hand into the basket of clothes.

Ash watched as she pulled out her own clothes, Brock and Misty calmly got up and pulled out theirs. Ash sorted through the other laundry and grabbed his clothes then sat them beside him. He grabbed Mark's clothes and tossed them to him, they landed on top of him. His green sweater covered up his head. Mark didn't move right away, he laid there for a moment before sitting upright. His Pokémon crawled to the foot of the couch and watched their trainer got changed, he put his tank top back on and then slipped on his pants. Mark reached down and grabbed his Kevlar vest, he put the vest on before placing the green sweater over it.

The other trainers put their clothes on too, they said nothing as they slipped on their shirts and pants. Ash put his looted attire back on, he felt how warm and soft they were, "Did you iron them, Cilan?"

"I did." said Cilan.

"Thanks." said Iris.

"Are we going to sleep on the couches?" Brock asked.

"I am," said Mark, "Someone has to keep an eye on that TV screen."

Ash got up and head over to the door, everyone's shoes were lined up by it. Their backpacks were also lined up against the wall, along with their guns. Ash grabbed his holster and reattached it to his belt, then placed his 9mm pistol inside it.

"He was gone before I could even say goodbye," Misty muttered, "Brutally killed in cold blood."

Ash turned and saw Misty slumping back into the couch, she rested her head in her hands. Her face showed guilt, deep guilt. Brock sat beside her and placed an arm over her shoulder, "It happened so fast," he said, "No way none of us could react in time."

"He _turned _fast," said Misty, "His body was still warm when be became another-"

Misty's voice caught in her throat, she cleared it and sighed, "I'm so scared, even here in this farmhouse I don't feel safe. Nowhere in the world is truly safe."

"Only saf_er_." Mark pointed out.

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, "Totally safer, good point there, Mark."

Tesla and Pansage came back into the room, their fur were towel dried in most areas. The old Pikachu helped Pansage up on one of the couches, the Grass Monkey Pokémon managed to sit back on the couch and relax, "Pansage." he cooed, letting out a soft smile.

"I missed having a shower," said Tesla, "The ole` creature comforts helps morale quite a lot."

"They do." said Ash.

"There's something around here that's also even better."

"Like what?"

"Pikachu?"

Tesla approached the couch Mark was laying on, "Move your feet, Mark."

Mark moved his feet away without question, Tesla pulled up one of the cushion. Underneath was a hidden compartment, Tesla opened that compartment and reached inside. He pulled out two unopened wine bottles, "Behold," he announced as he held up the wine bottles for everyone to see, "Wine!"

"Tesla," Mark laughed, "We're all too young to have wine, even I'm still too young."

"Yeah," said Tesla, "And I'm too old, I'm sure the drinking age rules don't apply to Pokémon."

"To come to think of it, they don't."

"Tesla," said Ash, "You serious?"

"I tried wine before," said Iris, "It tasted so bitter, yuck!"

"Me and my friends often get drunk once a month," said Tesla, "Just for fun, you should had seen the wild parties. They were quite awesome."

Tesla held up the wine bottle towards Ash's Pokémon, "Anyone of you want any?"

Oshawott, Scraggy, and Pikachu shook their heads no. Pignite turned away from him, he didn't want any either. Snivy stared at the wine bottle for a moment, then sighed. She extended one of her vines and wrapped it around the wine bottle, "Snivy." she chirped.

Ash was surprised, Snivy was the only Pokémon who kept a cool head during the zombie nightmare. No doubt her true feelings were the same as the other Pokémon, Snivy couldn't bare to hold it all in much longer.

The Grass Snake Pokémon twisted open the wine bottle with her vines, she held up the butt of the bottle high as she began gulping the wine down. Tesla watched in astonishment, everyone leaned forward and watched as Snivy drank half the wine. She sat the wine bottle aside and let out a drunken smile, "Snivy." she muttered.

"My friends call it the Happy Juice," said Tesla, "Somehow Pokémon are more receptive to the alcohol's effects than humans."

Ash stared at Snivy and wondered to himself, that wasn't like her. She was the most mature Pokémon he had ever had, whatever went on through her mind she probably decided to let loose for once.

"Snivy Sniv," she muttered, "Snivy."

"She said the wine had hit the spot," said Tesla, "Lucky for her, I probably hadn't felt that buzz since the first time I had a drink."

Ash squeezed his eyes and sat back in the couch, he stared back up at the TV screen and thought out loud, "This is going to be a long night."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	34. Ch 34: Tell It To The Varmints

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXIV_

_Tell It To The Varmints_

For hours the group talked and socialized, Tesla ranted on stories about the height of his Westinghouse days. Some of the trainers listened, others – like Mark – were fast asleep on the couches, snoring. Ash didn't feel like hearing another of Tesla's stories. The old Pikachu was getting drunk, for almost every paragraph he speaks he takes a swig of vine. He often snickered, occasionally spoke in his Pokémon language, and added a little too much details to his stories.

Snivy sat back with a wobbling posture, keeping to herself as she listened in on Tesla. The alcohol had finally laid its full affects on her. Snivy muttered to herself, her voice bubbled with burps, slurred speech, and giggles. This went on until the sun went down, as if on cue she flopped on the couch and fell asleep. Ash took this as a sign to go to bed, he picked up his Pikachu, AR-15, backpack, and shoes before heading upstairs. He didn't bother saying goodnight, his friends and the Pokémon were either asleep or focused on Tesla's stories.

Ash found a bedroom to sleep in, the first thing that caught his eye was the shelves. They were stuffed with serious supplies, pretty much everything needed to survive were on that shelf for him and his friends to use. Normally he would be at awe, but Ash was too tired. He sat his AR-15 and backpack beside the bed and laid on the bed. Ash didn't bother taking off his clothes, he didn't wanna waste time getting dress if the farmhouse caught fire or under attack.

_Paranoia_, he thought, _Would you ever give me a break?_

He rested his head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling, Pikachu yawned and unconsciously huddled underneath one of his trainer's arms. Ash pulled him close, the Mouse Pokémon let out soft coos from whatever he was dreaming. Tesla continued on blabbering his stories, his friends let out chuckles every few sentences and compliments and questions every other paragraph.

Ash closed his eyes, the voices drowned on downstairs. After a few minutes, the activity slowly softens and faded away...

Somewhere in his dreams, Ash found the world darken and distorted. He dreamed of himself walking down a small road in the middle of the night, deep within an ancient forest. The sky was clear and the moon glowed with a twinkling snowy surface, all but the brightest stars and planets was drowned out by the moonlight. The forest reached as high as a hundred meters, the trunks thickened with age and bark – so wide that Ash couldn't wrap his arms around the skinniest one. They all tower over him, maybe even watching him.

Every step Ash took, he felt himself driven further into the nightmare. He couldn't remember what he was doing before, nor who he was with. Ash was alone. The need to find something could never be greater. He tried his best not to run, fearing the sound would attract the evils from the rows of endless trees.

Somewhere up ahead, Ash saw blinking lights. He squint and held his hand over his eyebrows, blocking off the bright moonlight to get a better view. It was truck, sitting parked over at the curb. Ash refrained from calling out, whatever horrors that lurked in the night might possess the vehicle. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was following him, there weren't any. Ash ran towards the truck, his footsteps clapped loudly against the damp pavement. The forest seemingly muffled some of the sound, hopefully all of it.

"Hello?" Ash called out with a normal voice.

No response.

The pickup truck had a tan paint job, somehow it looked quite familiar. Ash looked inside the trunk, it was empty. He cupped his hands over the driver-side window and peaked through it, nobody was inside. And it didn't appear to be locked.

Ash opened the door and the interior lights came on, he climbed into the driver-side seat and shut the door behind him. The interior lights went out, plunging him back in blackness. Ash grumbled under his breath and resisted the urge to turn on one of the interior lights.

A blast of wind rocked the vehicle, Ash froze in place and listened. The trees outside shuffle their branches, shaking off their leaves. He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds...

_Nothing's out there, Ash_. He thought.

Ash stared at the truck's controls, it took him a moment to find the starter button. He held down the button, the ignition turned but the engine wouldn't start. It must be out of gas, or Hydrogen or electricity, whatever this car runs on. But the battery seemed okay, or else the emergency lights wouldn't be blinking. Ash turned on the stereo, all that came out was a hiss. He turned the dial or an active radio station, even the ones he thought that might be still running. All he could find was dead air.

"No broadcast station," he muttered to himself, "Anything out there at all?"

He reached over and opened up the glove compartment, its small light came on revealing empty space. Ash grumbled again, he struggled to keep focused. He looked underneath the car bench, the cab's floor was bare of anything useful. This pickup truck had nothing but a working battery. No way Ash could get it out of the engine compartment, he had no tools or know how. Even if he did, the battery was too heavy for him to carry in his arms.

Something slammed into the passenger-side of the pickup truck, thumping hard against the glass. Ash looked up and saw the red eyes of a human-like monster, growling its drooling teeth and howling like an Onix.

Ash kicked back and scrambled backwards, pressing his back against the driver-side door. He pant hard and quickly grabbed the door handle, he got the door open and rolled out of the car.

He hit the road with a flop and grunt, any pain Ash felt was suppressed by the adrenaline. He scrambled to his feet and turned . . . and found a dozen more Undead before him. Ash tried to move, but his muscles were paralyzed with fear. Besides, there was nowhere to run.

One of the Undead – who looked like some kind of construction worker – came shambling forward. He held up a demolition hammer in his hand and drew it back, the zombie charged forward and swung it towards Ash's forehead.

_THUNK!_

Ash's eyes shot open, his heart raced as he gasped for air. He found himself laying in the bedroom, in bed. His Pikachu still laying by his side, snuggled in quite comfortably.

_Just a dream_. Ash thought.

He sat up and took a moment to calm down, the shock of the dream took minutes to fade. When his nerves cooled down and blood pressure returned to normal, Ash glanced at the window. Faint sunlight glowed through the blinds, it was barely morning. Ash stood up and put his boots on, he tied the laces and stood up.

_This is the new normal_, Ash realized, _My dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, gone. Hope of getting back home, gone. Many of my friends, gone_.

Ash turned and glanced at his Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon was huddled up underneath the blankets. His head stuck out, his expression was full of serenity. Might as well leave him alone, he deserved to have a nice place to sleep for a change. Ash carefully opened the door and head downstairs, keeping his feet at a minimum level. He walked into the living quarters and found some of his friends, still sleeping on the couches.

Mark hadn't moved, he remained where Ash left him last night. This time he had a blanket and pillow, Ash could see Mark's Pikachu's tail stick out from underneath the blanket. His Pokémon must be nice and cozy underneath it.

Looking closely, Ash could barely recognized Iris. She slept on the other couch with a blanket draped over her and resting her head on a pillow, Axew was still on the couch arm sleeping on his back. Still snoring slightly. Cilan and Brock had moved the coffee table and rolled out sleeping bags, they slept in them without stirring much. Pansage was snuggled up in Cilan's side, part of his bandaged head was sticking out. Ash wondered where they got the sleeping bags, he recalled not bringing any with them during their trip over here.

Ash's Pokémon managed to squeeze in a spot on the couch, well most of them. As Oshawott, Scraggy, and Pignite got into a comfortable spot, Snivy slept on the bare floor. Her mouth gaped open as she let out soft snores, the Grass Snake Pokémon clutched a now empty wine bottle right beside her with a tight grip. Ash wondered how she handled last night, she must been really tired for her to sleep on the floor.

He looked around the room for the old Pikachu, Tesla was – yet again – missing. Could he be sleeping with Mark? No, the two didn't have much of a relationship to begin with. He must have had a bedroom somewhere in the farmhouse, or he could be buried underneath the covers for a comfortable sleeping spot. Ash didn't feel like looking for him, he was still a bit tired and it was too soon in the morning to go searching for him.

Ash grabbed the TV remote and turned on the TV, revealing the live surveillance footage of the outside world around the farmhouse. He stared at the first few live feeds of the cameras, the sky was white with overcast skies and barley any shadows. Not necessarily a beautiful morning, but it seemed peaceful enough.

When the screen got to the shot of the front door, Ash nearly jumped.

There, right across the yard near the road, just a stone's throw away from Mark's truck, was an Undead Pikachu. It wobbled on four-legs as it shrugged along, the red eyes glowed with evil and unspeakable blind rage. Unlike the other Undead Pikachus – who appeared horribly rotted and torn up with exposed organs – this zombie Pikachu was remarkably thin. The bones and ribs were showing under the fur, like somebody took a Pikachu hide and wrapped it over a skeleton that was a little big.

It was disturbing for Ash to look at, he closed his eyes and turned away from the screen, _This Pikachu had starved to death_, he thought, _Poor thing._

That thing wasn't a Pikachu anymore, it only looked like a Pikachu. It was dangerous. Dangerous to the group, dangerous to his friends and Pokémon. It must be dealt with. Now. The Undead Pikachu was drifting closer to the farmhouse, moaning and snarling to itself as it limped.

Ash turned off the TV and looked around for a weapon, he wondered where Mark's .22 rifle was at. He wasn't sure that the group brought it over, probably they didn't. Well, he did brought his AR-15.

He quietly crept back upstairs and tip-toed into the bedroom, Ash glanced at his Pikachu – he was still sleeping soundly. The trainer kept his eyes at his Pokémon as he slowly grabbed the AR-15's barrel, then pulled it up. Ash walked backwards towards the door, watching Pikachu nervously. He didn't wanna wake him, he didn't wanna wake his friends. This wasn't something to get everybody worried about, it was only just one Undead Pokémon.

Ash walked back downstairs and approached the front door, he quietly unlocked it and opened it. A bright shine of defused sunlight blasted through, it wasn't bright enough to light the room but it was bright enough to temporary blind Ash. He stepped out on the porch and went prone, Ash waited for his eyes to properly adjust in the light before he try to relocate the Pikachu.

The Undead Pikachu was much closer now, no further than 50 meters. It still hadn't spotted Ash yet, it was still blindly wondering around sniffing the ground as it goes. Ash turned the red dot sight on and took aim, he centered the reflected laser reticle over the Undead Pikachu's breath. Ash felt nervous, the gun shook in his hands as he struggled to take aim. Sweat formed on his palms, Ash wiped it off on his pants and held his breath.

He realized the safety was still on, Ash flipped it to semi-auto and refocused the sights on the zombie Pikachu. It swift and stirred, crawling around lopsided. Still it hadn't noticed Ash, it continued its normal behavior that could be a leftover from its previous life. Ash's heart raced, a sweat trickled down his neck. He didn't wanna kill the Pikachu, not another one. Not in cold blood. This one looked more of a victim than a menace.

"I can do this," he whispered to himself, "I can do this."

He kept the reticle over the Undead Pikachu's head for 5 minutes, following it as the Undead Pikachu trailed around in circles as it sniffed the yard. When it was facing away from Ash, it stopped. It stood on its hind legs, as if it heard something and was looking for the source nearby. Or it could be exploring the area, if it had an urge to get its bearings. Was there a spark of its former self still active, somewhere in the mutated brain of the Undead Pikachu?

Maybe, but it could just be old habits. Like what Tesla said.

Ash gasped and pant for a few seconds, he took a deep breath and held it again as he struggled to keep a steady aim on the back of the Undead's head. The zombified Mouse Pokémon continue to stand there, looking off at something in the search for its next meal, "I can do this, I can-"

He felt something punched him in the back, Ash jumped and jerked the trigger. He fired a round and scored a clean shot through the back of the Undead Pikachu's head, it slumped over and collapsed in the grass in less than a second.

Ash's jaw dropped as he stared at the Undead Pikachu's corpse, he held the expression for a few seconds before looking away.

The act was done. Finished. The Undead Pikachu was no more, put to rest like Ritchie and his Pikachu. Like Henry. Like Dawn . . . Ash wasn't so sure about Piplup though.

"You're done yet?"

Ash looked over his shoulder and saw Tesla standing sluggishly over him, his hand resting on his back. The old Pikachu's eyes twinkled through his eye goggles, they show he still had some form of buzz from his late night drinking spree, but he was sober enough to get up and figure out what was going on?

"How long were you standing there?" Ash asked.

"Right when you gone prone."

"Oh . . . How long had you been up?"

"Quite some time, I was shaking off a hangover when I heard the sound of your tip-toeing. Tell me, Ash. If you can take down numerous numbers of Undead human beings and my zombified friends, how can you not kill what used to be my own kind?"

Ash thought of a quick answer, "Pikachu was my first Pokémon, I had grown so attached to him that I-"

"Share that empathy with other Pikachus." Tesla finished.

"Yes."

"I was Irvin's first Pokémon and we'd had a seventy year long bond, that didn't stop me from taking his Undead husk's head off. Yes, I hesitated. Yes, I didn't want to. I just held it for a while and made the scene dramatic. Since the act will stay with you for the rest of your life, why not shape it so its desirable. Like, a scene from a movie? You can't stop the act from happening, but you can control _how_ it comes to reality."

"So that's why you yelled at Irvin to get back in his grave?"

Tesla chuckled, "I just wanted to say that, the spur of the moment demands it."

Ash flipped the safety to the on position and stood up, "Did you wrote a zombie survival guide, Tesla?"

"Yeah, you found the book?"

"Brock did, in the trunk upstairs. How come you hadn't told us about it from the start?"

Tesla's jaw hung open in confusion, "I forgotten all about it, I wrote that book 40 years ago because I was bored and I was looking up random crap from the library. Remember that I'm old, Ash, folks tend to deceive themselves at advanced age."

"PIKACHU!"

The voice cracked deep inside the farmhouse, Ash felt something tug him by the heart and pulled him back inside. Pikachu came running down the stairs, his feet tapped against the hardwood floor like a woodpecker, "Pikachu," the Mouse Pokémon cried, "Pikachu, Pikachu, PIKACHU, _PIKACHU!_"

Pikachu jumped right into Ash's arms, Ash held him close to his chest as the Mouse Pokémon cried. The noise acted like an alarm clock, slowly the Pokémon and trainers stirred with eyes fluttering open, "What . . . is going on?" Brock asked.

Ash shut the door and locked it, "Nothing," said Ash, "It's nothing."

"It's always something," noted Cilan, he sat up from the couch and flexed his neck muscles, "That was a goodnight rest. Did you sleep well, Ash?"

"I did." said Ash.

The mountain underneath the blanket erupted, Mark came out of it with his Pokémon spilling onto the floor. He pulled out his 9mm with wide open eyes, "Are we under attack!?"

"No." Ash and Tesla said in unison.

Mark holstered his gun and sighed, "Then what just happened?"

"Emolga?" Emolga muttered, she laid on her back on the floor for a moment before getting up onto her feet.

Pikachu spoke in his Pokémon language, Tesla didn't waste time deciphering, "Pikachu just had another nightmare, but he wasn't screaming because of that. He noticed Ash was gone, so he followed his scent trail to him."

"Snivy..." the Grass Snake Pokémon muttered.

Snivy sat up and hiccuped, she tried to get back up on her feet but her tail got in the way. She tripped and fell over, flopping her face against the wooden floor. Snivy let out a groan as she gripped her head, the hangover was drilling into every brain cell she had.

Oshawott and Scraggy stirred and saw Snivy's displeasure, they rushed to her aid and helped her back to her feet. The Grass Snake Pokémon offered no resistance, they managed to get her to walk a meter before she lost balance on her feet again. Tesla grabbed the nearby trash can and pushed it to her, Snivy gripped the rim of the bin and vomit heavily into it.

"Don't worry," reassured Tesla, "The hangover's temporary, it will clear up later in the day."

"Snivy." Snivy muttered with a nod.

Iris looked at Snivy with sleepy eyes, she sat up and picked Axew up, "Poor Snivy," she muttered, "What happened to her?"

"Too much to drink," Mark suggested, "Probably."

Misty sat up and stretched her arms, "So what's the plan, do we go back to the Pokémon Center and pick up our friends or what?"

Ash remembered Tracey and Gary, then the dead Pikachu outside, "We should search for Tracey and Gary first, just to pick up on their trail of where they might went. Then we'll start a full search after we get back to the Pokémon Center."

"I forgotten about Tracey and Gary," said Misty, "I'm not sure if he's still alive."

"We made it this far," said Brock, "He's just missing is all."

"For a month," said Ash, "Professor Oak said the two were at a camp near a Pikachu nesting grounds the day before the apocalypse, so..."

Ash saw the look on everyone's faces, he looked down and saw the look in his Pikachu's eyes. Everybody knew where this was going. Mark's Pokémon jumped up and clutched him, he sat a hand on his Pikachu's head and sighed, "I know the closest Pikachu nesting grounds near Carson, there's no doubt what happened to that place."

"A bunch of Undead varmints isn't going to deter me," said Tesla, cracking a grin, "I handled facing a horde of my diseased friends, facing them will be no different."

"We all seen how fast they can run," said Misty, "What if there's Electros?"

"That doesn't change anything, they're much slower than the average Walker so they'll go down quite easy if – and only if – we don't panic."

"We gotta contact the Pokémon Center then," said Ash, "Tell them what we're going to do. Does your CB radio have that range, Mark?"

"With all these trees," said Mark, "I doubt it."

"There's a HAM radio in the back room," said Tesla, "It's hooked up to a 200 meter radio tower just 3 kilometers away from here. I can get it up and running for you, but it would be Mark's job to dial in the police frequencies, since the frequencies I know are outdated."

Ash thought for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, show us the radio."

**. . .**

"Where could they be," Delia asked herself, she paced back and forth in the room as anxiety rocked her brain and heart, "Where's Ash?"

"I'm not to sure," said Professor Oak, "He had been out there numerous times already, he knows what he's doing."

Delia shot a look at Oak, "This isn't Pokémon training, Professor. This is survival!"

"Worrying about him won't change anything, Mrs. Ketchum. I'm still dealing with losing my grandson, he's just as family as your son!"

Delia stared at Professor Oak for a moment, then tears trailed down her face. She grasped Professor Oak with an iron grip and hugged him tightly, crying hard on her shoulder like there's no tomorrow, "I don't know my baby anymore. He's carrying guns, he shot at someone, his Pikachu even _killed_ a living being! He isn't the same, Sam! The child I bore and raised had turned . . . into something else."

When Delia laid eyes on her son at day one, she couldn't be anymore happier. Just when the world had ended, her son happened to turn up in an island that was quite independent from the rest of the world's politics. But he brought a gun with him, seeing that made Delia wonder if he had taken another living person's life.

No, he couldn't have. Ash claimed he got the pistol from a cop who was already dead, a dead cop who was feasting on a dead corpse. If he told her this before the apocalypse, Delia would immediately assume he was lying. But she saw the look in his eyes, he showed he told the truth. A truth that was as mad as the world he done the deed in.

Now he dressed himself in a new attire, looking more like a paramilitary or a mercenary than a Pokémon trainer. His Pokémon were feeling the same thing, they don't even know who he was anymore.

But Ash was determined to survive, and he had friends who share that determination. This other Pikachu – who was twice the age as Professor Oak – was very eager to help him by persuading the child to help him in personal dilemmas. Like making sure his trainer was put down. But this Pikachu had decades of experience and hundreds of murders under his belt, Delia did her research on Tesla and she didn't like what she found.

Tesla lost his family, the family who raised and cared for him. Could this happen to Ash if _she _would die in this world?

Oh no...

"Mrs. Ketchum."

Delia let go of Professor Oak and turned towards the door, Wally stood there with a look on his face, "Your son's on the radio, he wished to speak with you and Professor Oak."

Delia and Oak ran down the Pokémon Center hallway, following Wally wherever he was leading them. The police officer took her to a small CB radio, he picked up the microphone and handed it to Delia, "Press that button to talk, release when finished."

"Got it." Delia nodded.

She sat down in a chair and held the microphone to her mouth, she hesitated for a moment before pressing the talk button, "H- Hello?"

"Mom?" Ash's voice called out through the CB radio's speaker.

"Ash," she cried, feeling overjoyed, "Where were you!?"

"Tesla told us about his trainer's farm, we managed to find it. It's a beautiful place here, practically untouched by the outside world."

"Where?"

"I can't say on the radio, Mom. You're not the only one listening, I'll tell you more when I get back."

"Are you hurt, is any of your friends' hurt?"

"Misty's Psyduck died."

Delia's eyes shot open, "What happened?"

"Undead disemboweled him when we're taking care of something, he reanimated 5 minutes later. It was such a big mess, Misty's devastated. I don't want to talk about it any further."

"What are you doing now?"

"We're going to try to find where Gary and Tracey went, is Professor Oak there?"

"Yeah."

Professor Oak grabbed the microphone from Delia's hands and spoke to it, "I'm here."

"Where's this research camp you mentioned on day one, Professor Oak?" Ash asked.

"You got a map?"

"I got one, what's the coordinates?"

Professor Oak told Ash the coordinates, it took a minute for Ash to presumably write it down.

"I got it," he said, "I'll see what I can find Gary for you, Professor Oak."

"Thanks, Ash," said Professor Oak, "Can you promise you can bring him back here?"

"I promise, but I can't promise I bring him back alive. I'm not sure if he made it or not."

Oak squeezed his eyelids shut for a brief second, then pressed the talk button, "Do your best, Ash."

"I'll do whatever I can, signing off."

The CB radio hissed sharp static and went dead, Professor Oak placed the mike back in its slot and sighed, "He's more serious now," he said, "I think he matured a lot since the last time we saw him in Unova."

Delia just shook her head, "There's a lot more to it, Professor. We don't know half of it."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	35. Ch 35: Decapitation

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXV_

_Decapitation_

"Is it dead?" Misty asked.

"It was dead when I shot it." said Ash.

Cilan nudged the dead Pikachu with his foot, the corpse didn't stir or oozed blood. It just laid there where it fell, starting to decompose. It smelled so putrid that it made Ash's eyes burn. He stared at the bullet hole in the back of the diseased Pikachu's head, there wasn't any blood around the fatal wound but it was all gray and black on the inside. The blood had died and became an oil-like concoction of decayed cells, releasing poisons that would probably kill and reanimate more living beings.

"This was the only one?" Brock asked.

Mark shook his head, "When there's one, there's more. Pikachus always travel around in packs, the Pikachus introduced to this island always travel in groups. Chances are, there's more nearby."

Ash's and Mark's Pikachus stared at the dead Mouse Pokémon, they shivered and hide behind their trainer's legs. Afraid to go near it, maybe thinking it would get back up and attack.

"And where we're going," Mark continued, "it will no doubt be Undead Pikachus. A _lot _of them."

"The Pikachu anatomy shouldn't be a problem," said Tesla, "They're quite easy to shoot at, especially in the head. A shotgun blast would blow one apart, you should have seen what my cousin looked like after a hillbilly tore him apart with his .16 gauge."

"So shotguns are the way to go."

"Recommended, but any weapon would do. We're not dealing with a 150 kilogram Pokémon herd here."

"What do we do about this Pikachu?" Iris asked, pointing at the corpse.

"Axew?"

"We burn him," said Mark, "Burn him until there's nothing left."

Ash wondered for a moment, this Pikachu clearly starved to death. He had seen enough loved ones get burned into smoldering coals, enough zombies burned to smoke. This time, he wanted a more proper disposal.

"We should bury him," Ash suggested, "We bury him in the woods."

"I agree with Ash," said Misty, "We also got Psyduck to bury."

Mark stepped back and sighed. He looked down and glanced at his Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon returned the look with tearful eyes as it huddled close to his legs, "I'm not arguing with you there, we'll bury them. But on one condition."

"Say it." said Misty.

"We cut their heads off, so they won't reanimate again."

"Somehow some bodies would reanimate, even if they were shot in the head when alive," said Tesla, "They took the bullet in the cerebrum, but not in the brain stem. Maybe that's the only active part of the Undead brain. We'll do the same with my friends, especially Nobark, he's more trouble than any Pokémon I had ever met."

"Okay," said Brock, "We'll clean up the cemetery and then go track down Gary and Tracy."

"There's some tools in the cellar," said Tesla, "Shovels to do the digging and burying, and logging axes to do the head splitting."

Mark and Brock went to the cellar and got the tools, they came back and handed everyone a shovel and an ax. Once everyone was equipped, Mark picked up the dead Pikachu by the tail and the group head back to the cemetery.

All the dead Pokémon laid where the group had left them, and they were already rotting. Ash felt nauseous, his stomach twisted and his nose burned from the Sulfur-like smell of death. He glanced at his Pikachu and saw the look on his face, it showed uncomfortable sickness.

Mark handed Brock an ax, "Okay," he said, "Let's get this done."

Axew, Pansage, and Ash's and Mark's Pokémon stood by and watched as Brock and Mark began hacking the heads off the Undead Pokémon, each chop caused black blood to spew and gurgle from the necks. Bones cracked, cervical disks pop, and the backs of skulls crunched inward in squishy dehydrated brain matter. Iris and Misty gulped and looked away, Cilan hunched over and coughed. Ash tried covering his nose and breathe through his mouth, that tactic didn't work at all.

The first few Pokémon corpses were decapitated, their heads rolled away after a final juicy chop of an ax. Cilan stepped away and vomit in a nearby corner. Tesla just watched with no emotion, he simply stared at the bodies with grumpy eyes and looked away. Even though these Pokémon were his closest friends, he refused to mourn.

"Tesla," said Mark, "You know where the graves of these Pokémon are at, point them out so we can bury them."

The old Pikachu nodded in silence, Ash stepped up and scooped one of the small headless Pokémon bodies up with the shovel. The stump where the head had been oozed out blackish-green fluid, it smelled much worse than the body themselves, "The smell is excruciating!" Ash exclaimed.

"I hear you," said Tesla, "Thankfully we didn't eat breakfast this morning."

Cilan came back into the cemetery, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. He tucked the handkerchief in a pocket then picked up a pointed shovel. With utter dismay, he scooped up the decapitated head and followed Ash, holding the head away from himself with a squeamish face.

It didn't take long for Tesla to pick out the grave, he laid a hand on a tombstone that had a dark hole in front of it, "Here it is, stomp the corpse in there if you have to."

Ash looked down the dark abyss of the hole, he felt cold air rise from it. It reeked of what seemed like a dozen chemicals and noxious gases. Were they preservatives?

Cilan dumped the head down the hole first, it vanished into the hole and thumped against the bottom with a soft echo of despair. Ash then dumped the body into it, used the shovel to push the body in. It vanished deep into the earth, back to its final resting place.

"One down," said Tesla, "A few dozen more to go."

The process was repeated for about an hour, Mark and Brock exert their strength in severing the heads and the rest of the group filled in each hole with the body that came out of it. Ash glanced at the tombstones and saw the names carved into them, names like Moonshine, EverReady, Furball, etc. Irvin nicknamed these Pokémon, and every name ended with "Westinghouse."

"Here's another for you," said Mark, he dislodged the ax head out of the neck of the Emolga corpse, "Take good care of this one."

Ash scooped up the body and Tesla lead the way. Iris scooped up the head, or what was left of it, and followed. When the got to the grave, Iris dumped the head into the hole and watched it sink into the earth. She sniffled and stepped back, it was bringing up memories of her Emolga.

"This is Flashlight," said Tesla, "A little Sky Squirrel with more curiosity than common sense. He would always run around in circles, all hyped up on energy. Often he spins himself till the world still spins when he stops. Falls flat on his rear end every time."

Iris let out a soft laugh, but it was short-lived, "What happened to him?"

Tesla shook his head, "Climbed up a tree, reached the top. He made a minor slip, and landed with a plop."

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Ash.

"Somewhere midway from falling to earth, he caught a hold of a branch stump of the tree. The momentum gashed his belly and chest open with a single swipe. I watched the whole thing as it unfolded with the rest of my Pokémon friends, we all knew he was dead before he hit the ground. What made it ironic was that he wasn't screaming, he was swearing like a sailor until the branch stump tore out his diaphragm. That is how he died, that was why he had the gash when he reanimated – if you were wondering how he got it."

Ash dropped Flashlight's body into the hole, and he went straight back to his grave, "I didn't wanna know how he got it."

"Of course you don't," Tesla explained, "But I saw how they died. I was there, I just stood there and watched . . . since it happened so fast that there wasn't much anyone could do. We were all so desensitized that we didn't mourn when we buried him, I had to pin a few Pokémon down because they wanted to cook and eat him. Irvin didn't say much every time we lose a Pokémon, neither do I. It was all part of the job, you train Pokémon during some time down the road and then . . . they're gone."

Tesla glanced down the hole and sighed, "Another reason why I hate Pokémon battling, friends are up and gone faster than you can say goodbye. I just wish this damn zombie apocalypse don't rub it in."

Ash looked around and saw Mark approach Nobark's body, he raised up the logging ax and slammed it on the Scrafty's skull. The ax head bounced off of it with a loud ding, the shock ripped through the carbon fiber handle and attacked Mark's hands.

"Motherf*cker!" he swore at the top of his lungs.

He dropped the handle and drop to his knees, Mark raised his hands and clenched them into fists as he growled in furious rage. His Pokémon simply point and laughed at him. Plusle and Minun rolled on the ground as Emolga and Mark's Pikachu held each other up. They all laughed so hard that they broke out tears.

"Oh you're not helping," Mark snarled as he flexed his hands, "Damn, I can't believe that hurt."

Tesla chuckled, "Even in death, Nobark's still an asshole."

Mark stormed out of the cemetery, still flexing his hands, "I'm going to get something, I'll be right back."

After Mark left, Ash turned his attention to Cilan and Brock. The two were digging a couple of small holes near the cemetery fence. One for Psyduck, the other for the dead Pikachu. They sat aside their shovels and pant, "Ground's hard this time of year," said Cilan, "How in the world can these Pokémon climb out of it?"

"Only a Pokémon who knows the move Dig would explain," said Tesla, "Pansage, you know the move Dig, tell me how you move through the earth."

"Pansage," said Pansage, "Pan Pan Pansage. Pan Pansage, Pan Pan Pan. Pansage."

Tesla bit his lip, "So that's how its done."

Brock grabbed the dead Pikachu and sat it next to one of the holes, he held the ax's head steady over its neck. Ash glanced at his own Pikachu, he hid behind the other Pokémon and shielded his eyes. Brock raised the ax and called it down, it snapped the dead Pikachu's neck with a mighty pop. After three more chops, the head was off the body.

"Okay," said Brock as he kicked the head into the hole, then nudged the body after it, "Now Psyduck."

Misty came forward and stuck out her hand, "Here, let me do it. He's my Pokémon."

Brock nodded and handed the ax to her, "Nice and fast, it will cut through."

Ash watched as Misty approached Psyduck's body. The Duck Pokémon's blood had deteriorated, turning from crimson red to oil black. It laid face down with a prominent bullet hole in head, the crowbar that killed him still impaled him to the ground.

Misty went fast, she began unleashing several quick chops on Psyduck's neck. Black blood oozed out as the other blood vessels were torn open, gas being given off from decomposition hissed out of the gaps like it was methane escaping from a pipe. Iris stuck her shovel in the ground and picked up, she shielded his eyes to prevent him from seeing more.

But the damage was done, he remained frozen, undeterred by Iris' efforts to protect him.

Psyduck's head plopped off his body after one final chop, Misty handed the ax back to Brock and sniffled, "Okay, let's lay him to rest."

Brock grabbed the crowbar and pulled it out, he tossed it aside and grabbed Psyduck's body by the foot. He dragged it over to the hole he dug out for him and dropped him in, Misty sheepishly picked up his head and sat it in the hole, "This is such a mess!" she yucked.

"This is why we burn bodies," said Tesla, "Its quick and clean every time. By the way, where did Mark went?"

Mark came walking back towards the cemetery, he had a smile on his face as he held up something red in his hand. Ash squinted his eyes to get a better view...

It was a stick of dynamite.

"Okay," said Tesla, "Does anyone have a lighter or matches?"

"Mark," Ash asked, "Where did you get that!?"

"I got it off of Crawford's things," said Mark, "This should break open that Scrafty's skull."

"I bet you it will." said Tesla.

"You gotta be serious." said Brock.

Mark frowned, "This son of a b*tch killed Psyduck, this is going to be payback right here!"

"Not here," cried Tesla, "I don't wanna clean up another mess. We'll blow up Nobark in the front yard of the farmhouse."

"Kay, let's get him then."

Mark picked up the crowbar and jammed the claw end into Nobark's back, with a mighty pull he hoisted the corpse up with all his strength. The body popped and cracked as the crowbar dug into it. Mark rests the crowbar on his shoulder, carrying it like a hobo bag on a stick.

Ash stood there for a moment and thought to himself, _And I thought we're just about done here._

Brock and Cilan quickly filled in the holes before collecting the tools, all the trainers and Pokémon then followed Mark as they head back to the house. He head over far away from the house in the open field, then dropped the dead Hoodlum Pokémon on the ground, "This should be a good spot, wide open space all around and we don't have to worry about blast damage."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Cilan asked.

Mark shrugged, "When is anything a good idea in the end of the world?"

He pulled out a box of matches from his pocket and handed it to Misty, "You wanna do the honors?"

Ash scooped up Pikachu in his arms and stepped far away back as possible, his other Pokémon took note of this and quickly got back as well. Cilan, Brock and Iris stepped back as Misty took the matches, "Sure." she said.

Misty fished out a match from the box and struck the head on the box's phosphorous side, she took the dynamite from Mark's hand and lit the fuse. Misty pulled Nobark's jaw open with her foot, then shoved the dynamite in.

Mark was already running towards the group by the time she was done, she quickly scampered to safety without a moment to lose, "How long does it have?"

_BOOM!_

The dynamite exploded, Nobark's body was engulfed in a fireball in less than a second. The blast wave knocked everyone off their feet in one mighty thrust. Ash's eyes went big as he saw a short-lived mushroom cloud rose to the sky, his heart raced faster than his thoughts could process.

"YEE HAW," Mark cried as he got back to his feet, "DID YOU SEE THAT!?"

Mark's Emolga, Pikachu, Plusle, and Minun got up and started dancing around their trainer with sudden joy. The other Pokémon simply sat up and moaned, ears rung and eyes burned from the flash. Ash got back to his feet and glanced where Nobark's corpse had been, all what's left was a crater and a pair of charred Scrafty legs.

"We were too close!" cried Iris as she screwed her little finger into her ear.

"Damn, Mark," Tesla coughed as he got back on his hind legs, "I can't believe you had that explosive in the technical the whole time, how come you didn't share this earlier!?"

"I forgotten all about it," Mark answered, "Until I struck the Nobark's skull with the ax."

"Can we go back inside now," Misty asked, "I wanna get something to eat."

"I know where the MREs are at," said Tesla, "Along with a few other things. Yeah, let's go get some breakfast for once."

Ash shook his head and blinked his eyes, he noticed he still had Pikachu in his arms. The look on the Mouse Pokémon's face showed utter amazement, the dynamite explosion had forced him into a trance-like state. Ash held his hand in front of Pikachu's nose and snapped his fingers, his buddy was brought back to reality in an instant.

"Pikachu." he awed, still stunned by the explosion.

"That was astonishing," said Ash, "Wasn't it?"

Pikachu could only nod, it was a good enough answer.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	36. Ch 36: Dead or Alive

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXVI_

_Dead or Alive_

The old Pikachu revealed a cache of food. Plastic storage containers filled with granola bars, powdered milk, dehydrated food, dozens of packs of military MREs, peanuts, and multivitamins. Unfortunately there wasn't any food for the Pokémon, Tesla had to remind everyone that Irvin doesn't feed his Pokémon the conventional food.

Cilan did a count of all the food, he was stunned. There was enough food for 15 people and Pokémon to last at least 1 or 2 years if rationed properly. For water, it was limitless. The farm had its own spring, completely enclosed from the outside world. The chance of it being tampered with, either by living or living dead, was practically nil. Since the shower was hooked up to a rain capturing system, they can use that water for bathing.

Everyone got enough MREs to last them for the day, Cilan gave everyone a 2,000 calorie bar. They ate it all within seconds. After taking the multivitamins, everyone munched on a granola bar and drinking powdered milk.

It was much-needed relief, they were all exhausted from disposing the Pokémon bodies. The extra energy might help with searching for Gary and Tracey, which could take all day. Tesla got out a map and spread it out on the coffee table, Ash glanced at it. The entire map of Faraday Island was spread out, he was amazed how it looked. Faraday City sat on the farthest edge around the northwestern part of the island, Carson sits just below that. The old Pikachu pointed out a star right between Carson and Faraday Island, just away from the main highway.

"There," he said, "That's where the Westinghouse Farm is, it's going to be near the main road here."

"The closest Pikachu nesting ground near Carson is here," Mark pointed to the spot near the map, "The forest is similar to Tesla's own hideaway at the edge of Faraday City, remember how it was, Ash?"

Ash nodded, "Untouched by civilization for 20 years, not to mention loaded with dead-fall traps."

"I have a GPS in the car, I can plug in the coordinates and it would point it out on this map. It shouldn't be hard."

Ash scanned the map for a moment, he noticed a few square blocks of gray near the center of the map. A single road connected it to the one that connected Faraday City and Carson, "What's this place right here?"

"Where?" Mark asked.

Ash pointed it out, "This place?"

Mark frowned, "That's the Faraday Incarceration Center, its a prison. Anybody convicted of anything technically wounds up here, it's a maximum security prison that has its own power, water, and natural gas well. Now that you pointed out, I'm quite nervous about it since the road leading to it is connected to the road we travel on."

"Hardened criminals," Tesla snorted, "They'll deprive us from property and life if they find us."

"What's the maximum occupancy of the prison?" Cilan asked.

"About a thousand."

"That's a lot."

"To this island's standards. My dad told me that there were special protocols in place to hold the prison once society fails. Those who were convicted of minor crimes and misdemeanors – like urinating in a flower pot for example – will get an early parole. Those convicted of more serious crimes – like murder and life sentences – they'll all be lined up on a wall and killed. Sometimes they don't bother with guns, they just set the inmates on fire in their cells with Molotov cocktails."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Misty gasped.

"Traditional justice," said Tesla, "The default criminal law. According to my record, I would be shot and burned a hundred times over if I was ever locked up in one of these prisons during the end of the world. These people are one of the best suited for an apocalypse, maybe the former cons were causing all that grief we'd been hearing on the radio."

"If the emergency protocols worked," Mark continued, "then one-fourth of the prison population would had been killed. One-fourth of the prison inmates would be released. And the remainder would take over the prison, once the guards either leave to go find their families, opt out, or killed by the inmate population."

Tesla folded up the map and took it back to the bookshelf, "With that being said, we shouldn't bring this map. If they find this place, we all start back at square one. Now if anyone get's lost, we wound up back here or at the Carson Pokémon Center. Now let's go find these friends of yours, I'm interested to know what skills they have on hand."

Mark stood up and picked up his silenced Remington, "Okay, so are there any guns in this farmhouse?"

"Yeah," said Tesla, "Let me show you."

The old Pikachu approached the couch, Brock, Misty, and Cilan were sitting on and shooed them off. They quickly got up and moved. Everyone watched as Tesla pulled off the cushions and lifted up the couch's bottom board...

"Whoa," said Mark, "Irvin's packing heat."

The couch was filled with shotguns. Double-barrel, pump-action, and semi-automatics filled one half of the couch as their ammunition boxes filled the other. Ash counted the guns, there was at least 20 crammed into the sofa's interior, "Irvin's father's a gun nut," Tesla explained, "And so was Irvin's half-brother, they spent the money buying guns and the ammo. All they could get a hold on were shotguns and regular civilian rifles, Irvin and me managed to get the assault rifles and machine guns from Team Rocket. Now that couch right there hold the bolt-action and semi-auto rifles, and that one holds the assault rifles. We'll leave them be, they're not going anywhere."

Everyone reached in and grabbed a shotgun, everyone grabbed a pump-action since it was more versatile. Ash checked the sights of the shotgun he got, he saw a circle with two dots on each side that encompasses the front sights. How accurate.

"These are either .12 gauge, .16 gauge, and .20 gauge," said Tesla, "All of you guys got the .12 gauge, grab the ammo and head to the technical. We'll store all the weapons we brought with us under the bench seat."

"Fine by me." said Mark.

The group gathered up their backpacks and weapons and head out into the car, they all tossed their backpacks in the trunk then stashed their assault rifles and sub-machine guns under the bench seat. All the Pokémon got into the back and took up one side of the truck, the trainers took the other. Ash, once again, managed to get the passenger-side seat. Mark got behind the wheel and started up the electric engine.

"You think we might find surviving Pikachus there?" Mark asked

Ash turned towards Mark, "Pikachus aren't the only Mouse Pokémon, you know."

"Of course, maybe we'll find some Raichus and Pichus. Who knows?"

Mark drove down the gravel driveway and back onto the main road. The roads were becoming more and more familiar every time they drove through them, even though it had been a month the roads showed no signs of decay or neglect. Ash wondered how he managed to make it this far, how his quick reactions in the first few hours of the apocalypse had saved most of his friends. He couldn't save Dawn, they learned that getting bit made you turned from her. But Mark proved, and later confirmed by Iris' Emolga, that it wasn't the bite that does it.

He saved a few lives, though they were accidental. Simple accidents that happened at the wrong place at the right time. Ash was fast to adapt, he was young. He was learning the ropes on how to survive in this new world.

But this new world proved violent, he had killed over countless Undead already. Saw friends die. Saw friends turn. Tesla and Mark seemed to be his most important friends, even though it was barely half a year since he known them. His friends, whom he knew for a long time, weren't very helpful in giving his support. After all the dilemmas, after all the Pokémon battles, and the countless times they helped him rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket. This was the greatest challenge in his journey to become...

Ash shook his head. No, the journey's over. The dream, gone. Now its all about survival, in an island he only visited once. He hadn't lost everything, he still had his Mom, Professor Oak, his friends he met during his journey. But everyone was so far from home, and they all had paired up with the locals who knew their way around. But was it _still _home?

"Hey, Mark," Ash asked, "I gotta ask you something?"

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"Does Faraday Island still feel like home to you in the end of the world?"

Mark shifted in his seat and sighed, "If Faraday City was lost, I would say no. But my dad got that place locked down, he technically has an entire army of law enforcement officers and fellow citizens as volunteers. Since the city is still functioning somewhat, I would have to say _maybe_."

"You're just not sure?"

"Ash, I went to military school at an early age. Probably around 5. I was trained in wilderness survival and urban warfare. I passed all the tests with flying colors, but I was kicked out of military school when I was around 8."

"Why?"

Mark grinned, "Insubordination, I was such an intellectual."

Ash snickered at the thought, Mark laughed it off as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "Let me guess," said Ash, "Right after military school, you met your Emolga."

"Ah," said Mark, "My little girl, whom I didn't know was really a girl until Tesla pointed it out. I had her for a long time, Ash. She was the sweetest thing I had ever met in my entire life, until Plusle and Minun came along. I know those two were females, since the Pokémon breeder said they were."

"This Undead apocalypse, what if we get bitten or one of our Pokémon gets bit. How do you think they all would react."

"My Pokémon only knows one thing in the world, and that's me. If I go, then there's just no point in living. That was how they were raised, how they were trained. Your Pokémon the same way, unless some of your Pokémon were born in the wild."

"Scraggy's born in captivity."

"Your Pikachu is quite bonded with you, had you prepared him in case you get a sudden death?"

"No, did you for your Emolga?"

"Nope, I'm getting a feeling we may be screwed over sooner or later."

Without taking his eyes off the road, Mark reached over and opened up the glove compartment, "The GPS is in there, pull it out and turn it on."

Ash glanced inside the glove compartment. It was loaded with maps, batteries, and – not surprisingly – Snickers bars. On top of it all, the GPS device sat in the middle. Ash reached in and pulled it out. He held down the ON button and the screen flickered to life, even after the world ended the communication satellites still worked.

"What does it say we're at?" Mark asked.

Ash waited for the screen to boot up, when it did a small virtual map of Faraday Island appeared. It zoomed in to their current location and revealed the coordinates, "Okay," said Ash, "We're almost there, you should make a turn at the next roadway."

Within minutes, a road appeared. Mark made the turn as directed and it took them closer to their destination. Ash looked out the window and noticed a bush shift seemingly on its own, a tiny figure disappeared into the vegetation of the woods. He couldn't get a good glimpse of what it was, but it was enough to put Ash on edge. He and his friends weren't the only ones alone in this forest.

Mark kept driving until they reached the end of the road.

At the end was some sort of office building, small yet official-like. The parking lot to it was vacant, except for one car. It was an SUV, the word "Hybrid" – printed in bolded letters underneath the side mirrors – suggested that it also runs on electricity and Hydrogen, like Mark's technical. It appeared it hadn't been used since the initial outbreak, it was covered in rain marks but looked rather intact.

Mark made a U-turn and parked the technical facing down the road, then killed the engine. He and Ash got out as everyone else climbed out the back, once they all gathered up they grabbed the shotguns and cocked them.

"Everyone know how to use a shotgun?" Mark asked.

"Wally showed us how to handle them," said Misty, "But not actually fire them."

"Just for a head's up, women tend to have some difficulty using shotguns. I have no idea why, all I know it has something to do with the recoil. So expect your shoulders to feel sore when you fire them."

Iris checked the sights of her shotgun, "It won't fly out of my hands, will it?"

"Keep a good grip on the gun, a _tight _grip. That way it won't fly out of your hands."

"When I fired Emmett's shotgun to put down my trainer," said Tesla, "the gun kicked back into my ribs, it hurt worse than a headbutt from a Scraggy."

Tesla grinned at Scraggy and nodded, "Believe me, I know."

"Okay," said Ash, "If we get split up, we meet back here. According to this GPS, the research camp is in walking distance from here."

A twig snapped without warning, all heads turned towards the direction. Nothing but bushes and trees shifting from the blow of the wind.

"I think the Undead Pikachus know we're here," said Mark, "Hey Tesla, is it natural for Pikachus to lay an ambush?"

"Not really," said Tesla, "But the preceding evolution might, Pichus are quite mischievous."

"Pikachu." Ash's Pikachu muttered under his breath.

Tesla walked back to the technical, he reached up and opened the car door a while on the tips of his toes. He reached in and grabbed his M3A1, Tesla pulled out the magazine and checked it, "These Undead Pikachus will go after their own kind first," he explained, "They will ignore any other species but their former. So, if any one of those get's to me or Ash and Mark's Pikachus, we're going to have another Sparky moment on our hands."

"Pikachu!" cried Mark's Pikachu, she ran on all fours back to the technical and tried to get into the back. She jumped up on the ledge but slipped and fell, "Pikachu," said Mark, "I got you covered!"

Tesla approached his great-granddaughter and grabbed her by the shoulder, then hoisted her up to her hind legs, "You stay here, you'll be easy prey. Thundershocks won't work against the Undead, especially the Electros, if they're around."

Mark's Pikachu nodded her head and rushed back to Mark, just before she could try to jump back on his shoulder Emolga beat her to it, "Pikachu!" she cried.

"Emolga!" Emolga barked back.

"Knock it off, you two," scolded Mark, "You'll get eaten either way!"

"How reassuring, Mark." Iris said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Ash held up the GPS and glanced at the screen, "Okay," he said, "It should be this way."

"Lead the way, Ash." said Mark.

The group followed Ash as he head off into the nearby woods, he continuously checked the GPS with one hand as he clutched his shotgun in the other. He felt the tension rise with every step he took. Ash wasn't sure how far it was, but it had to be in walking distance. Maybe it was 200 meters in that direction, or 180 in the other. He wasn't entirely sure, there could be an ambush at the location for all he know.

_Well that's just too predictable. _Ash thought.

But what kind of ambush? What kind of ambush would be waiting for the group, if anyone was waiting for them at all? Would it be Undead? Bandits? Or a crazed lunatic with a shotgun? So much questioned bottled Ash's mind to the point he just wanted to turn around and head back to safety. But he kept going, even though Gary was a rival and wasn't that friendly he was still a friend. He was Professor Oak's grandson, he was family to a man who gave him his first Pokémon and started his journey.

But does that still matter . . . in this world? The thought of it formed a dark feeling in the center of Ash's heart. It didn't feel good. Ash gulped and scanned the vegetation, then the GPS, then the path, then repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and Ash jumped, almost dropping his shotgun and the GPS. Pikachu almost slipped off his shoulder, but he managed to hang on. Ash shot around and saw Mark laughed, "Remember that the Walkers always give their position away before they attack, you'll get an early warning if they happened to walk by."

"Thanks for the tip." said Ash.

"Pika." Pikachu muttered.

"You know, I wished I brought my crossbow with me. I don't think we thought this through."

"We never do, Mark," said Tesla, "That's how it goes."

"Eh, good point."

_We never do_, Ash thought, _Does that explain why we're out here?_

Ash glanced at the GPS again, this time they were near. The compass pointed through the bushes, he approached them and pushed the branches aside.

The bushes revealed a campsite, mostly quite ordinary. There was a small and large tent set up, a fire-pit lined with rocks, a stack of firewood, and an outdoor table – shielded with a blue shade tarp. Ash stepped into the camp and checked the GPS, this was the place.

"We're here," said Ash, "And not surprisingly, it's abandoned."

"You think anyone had been rooting around here?" Brock asked.

"I don't know," said Mark, "So far I didn't see any signs of foul play, everything looks quite normal."

Ash handed the GPS back to Mark and drew his shotgun, he aimed it at one of the tents and carefully approached. The door was zipped up, if anyone was leaving in a hasty retreat they would normally wouldn't bother closing it. But Ash wasn't taking any chances, there could be a zombie or someone sleeping in there. So far they had yet to see an Undead in this area.

He reached out with one hand and grabbed the zipper, Ash bit his lip and held his breath. Hopefully there wasn't a surprise inside.

Ash zipped open the door as fast as he can and stuck the barrel of his shotgun inside...

Nobody's home.

Mark zipped open the other tent and stuck his head in, "Clear," he said, "This tent is filled with scrapbooks and video equipment, this is definitely a research camp."

"Tracey likes to draw Pokémon," said Ash, "That could explain all the books."

The tent Ash opened was full of unrolled sleeping bags, at least 4 in all. They were neatly set up and firmly pressed, no sign that anyone had scrambled out of this tent. The way everything looks so far, it looked like everybody just got up and left with no rush. Ash shook his head, something wasn't right.

Just as he stepped away from the tent, something caught his eye. The outdoor table had something stained on it, whatever it was it covered the entire surface, almost from corner to corner. Ash approached the table and took a closer look, "I think I found something."

The group approach the table and got a look for themselves, "What is it?" Misty asked.

"I don't know," said Ash, "Some sort of paint that was spilled on here or something, looks faded now."

Tesla hopped on the table and smelled it, he took a few good whiffs before coming to a conclusion, "It reeks of iron, its dried blood."

"Are you sure?" Cilan asked.

Tesla sniffed the table again, "Positive, and not just any ordinary blood. Its _human _blood, but I can't tell what type though."

Ash felt his heart sink into his stomach, "Someone must had bled a lot."

Mark walked around the table and looked for more clues, he then spotted something and reached down to grab it, "Looks like someone was desperate in treating the wound."

He held up an empty roll of gauze, it was completely soaked in dried bloody fingerprints. Since it had been in the elements for quite some time, it was slightly faded and bleached. Thanks to the cold nights on the Island, the blood hadn't completely faded away, "The gauze was ripped off," Mark explained, "Whoever wrapped a wound, had probably made the bandage tight, then sheer off the excess with a bit of muscle. Maybe they didn't have a proper First Aid Kit."

Ash sat down on the table and looked off into the wilderness, staring at the hibernating plants. He wondered what kind of injury would cause this much blood loss. The wound had to be deep, major blood vessels must have been split open. It had to be an artery, cause more blood runs through it than the veins. Or more that one blood vessel was nicked open, that made more sense. With the blood on the table, that injured person must have laid down on it. And with only one roll of bandage, then it had to be the limb. The arm doesn't give off that much blood so a leg was probably mangled up.

So if that person had moved with that injury, there should be a blood trail of some kind. A bad injury to the leg would prevent anyone from walking. He might had been dragged out of the area by someone, but there was no blood smear or trail apparent. Just sprinkles of dried blood staining the grass.

Now what if that person had died, should the scavengers got to the body? But there was no bloody skeleton around, no chunks of rotten meat, no body parts of anything. If any Undead were to walk by, they might as well sit at the table and eat like Thanksgiving, then take any leftovers with them for their eternal wondering. Ash shook his head. No, they would leave the same . . . pattern, like the scavengers.

"Hey, guys," said Brock, he peaked through one of the tents again and pulled out a laptop, "I found Gary's laptop."

"How can you be sure it's his laptop?" Misty asked.

"It has _Oak _written on the bottom of it."

"So this is the right place after all," said Mark, "And so far, we have no clues where these two went."

"How close are these friends of yours?" Cilan asked.

"Tracey, we're all close. Gary on the other hand, he's . . . eh, somewhat more mature when Ash last seen him."

"Been a while," Ash muttered, "I think I figured out what happened on this table."

"What's your theory?" Tesla asked.

"Whoever bled a lot, had died, then came back, and walked off. You can only bleed when you're alive, so when he or she got back up that person wasn't bleeding. Even if his heart was still pumping, there wouldn't be much blood anyway since most of it was spilled on and under this table."

Tesla shrugged, "Good theory, but there could have been more blood in the area. It was probably bleached by the sun and deteriorated over the past few weeks. This shade tarp protected the table from direct sun exposure, so that's why there's still blood on this table."

"We don't got much to go on guys." Iris groaned.

"Axew." her Tusk Pokémon muttered.

Brock opened up the laptop and tried to turn it on, "The battery's dead, we'll need to get this charged."

"Then it may be our only lead yet," said Mark, "Is there a power cord for the laptop inside the tent?"

Brock peaked inside, "Yeah."

"We'll take it back to the Pokémon Center, we'll get it charged and figure out what's on it."

A loud groan ripped through the air, everyone froze in place. Oshawott got startled and fell on his rear, Pignite's ears shot up as he frantically looked around, Scraggy's eyes went big in an instant, Snivy tried to keep herself together and suppressed most of her fear. But it seeped through her eyes and they opened unnaturally wide. Ash felt the adrenaline kick in, his heart struggled to compensate as he fumbled with his shotgun.

Emolga clutched onto Mark's head as the trainer's other Pokémon huddled beside him. He raised his shotgun and looked towards the source of the howl, "What the f*ck was that?"

"Sounded a bit alien," said Brock, "It might be Undead."

"A Walker," Tesla stated, "Not the Undead Pikachus I'm hoping for . . . Uh, I mean . . . Is there more than one?"

The Undead moaned loudly again, this time it was much closer.

"Just one," said Ash, "For now."

Several bushes shivered, a couple of twigs snapped. All heads turned towards the vegetation and saw it being pushed aside by an unseen force. Something snarled and groaned, wheezing heavily as it struggled to push its way through. Pikachu got behind Ash and hanged on to his shoulders as he aimed his shotgun, using the edge of the table for support.

A bush was pushed aside, and the zombie revealed himself...

Ash's jaw dropped.

"Holy sh*t." Mark gasped in a calm tone.

He stood up and backed away from the crawling zombie, his Pokémon tried no to panic as they huddled behind their trainer for protection. Ash stood up, but kept the gun trained at the zombie's head. After closer inspection of the zombie's face, he recognized the person. His eyes went big.

It was Gary Oak, or it was Gary. His body was horribly decomposed from head to toe. His legs were stripped of all skin and muscle, exposing the bones underneath. It had a coal-like texture to it, as if Gary had submerged his legs in acidic crude oil. His torso barely had any flesh left. Part of his back had peeled off, revealing the shoulder blades and spine.

Ash could see through the corpse's back and managed to find where one of Gary's kidneys once been. All that was left were necrotic stubs of major blood vessels, they look more like corral from the bottom of the deepest ocean vents. Gary's head had mostly a skeletal look on one side, missing an ear and part of his neck. He barely still had hair, the style in which gave his identity away. His face was still recognizable, though the teeth were black as night. Pointy too.

The dead thing that was once Gary moaned, the voice slightly sounding like his former self. He stretched out a bloated lacerated arm towards Ash, staring at his former rival with puffy red eyes that glowed like a stop light. Gary tried to crawl his way towards him, but could barely move his arms. He wasn't going anywhere fast, no matter how hard he tried. Ash cocked the shotgun and took aim at the center of Gary's forehead, "I'm sorry this happened to you Gary."

_BOOM!_

The top of Gary's head exploded in rotten flesh and black mist, the smell given off was horrendous. Ash stepped back and couched, successfully keeping his breakfast down. He'll never get used to the smell. Gary let out a final sickly yelp then collapsed, slowly hissing out his last breath.

"And that's for calling me Ashy-boy." Ash let the stray thought slipped out.

Mark laughed, "So he was another rival of yours, was he an asshole?"

Ash sighed and lowered the gun, "When he was younger, he had matured since but..."

Ash's voice trailed off and stared at the body, it stank of death and leftover digestive enzymes. It was Gary, and they found him. But Tracey was nowhere in sight, maybe he wasn't nearby like Gary. When Ash shot him, he felt all the hate that built up over the years conger up in an instant. All that was gone, only replaced with sympathy and grief. He promised Professor Oak that he would bring Gary back, Ash knew what to do.

"We gotta bring his body back to the Pokémon Center," said Ash, "I promised Professor Oak that we'll bring him back, we'll wrap whats left of him and bring him back."

"Not procrastinating, huh?" Tesla muttered.

"No, not this corpse."

Ash turned towards his friends, they all stared at him with big eyes but they didn't oppose him. Strange, why doesn't anyone speaking out a second opinion?

"Maybe there's a bed sheet in the office building," said Mark, "Or in one of these tents, we can use that and cover him up. Then we'll bring him back."

The loud growl of a number of creatures ripped through the sky like a train, this time it didn't sound like a horde of Undead humans. In a split second, a yellow rotting Undead Pikachu came charging out of the bushes. Then another. And another. A small group of them bunched up together and charged at the group, their teeth sneering and eyes glowing madly red.

"Undead Pikachus!" Mark announced as he swung his shotgun towards them.

"_RAAARRREEE!" _one of the Undead Mouse Pokémon wailed, it sounded so monstrous yet with a hint of the familiar Pikachu voice. It immediately locked on to Tesla, the Undead Pikachu picked up pace and rushed towards him.

Tesla calmly aimed his M3A1 at the charging zombie Pikachu and fired a spray of bullets, the Undead's torso and head was riddled with holes before it somersaulted on the ground, then rolled to a stop. Another charged at Tesla, Mark took aim and fired at it. The Undead Pikachu's body exploded, sending chunks of necrotic organs and shattered bone flying in a spray of deathly mace. The head soared through the air and smashed against a rock, busting it in.

_That's sick! _Ash thought.

Another Undead Pikachu zigzagged across the camp ground and locked on to Ash's own Pikachu. It roared as it charged at break-neck speed.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

No time to feel sympathetic, Ash raised his shotgun and fired indiscriminately at the Undead. The first round, blasted off part of the zombie's neck. It fumbled to the ground and let out a gurgling groan through its destroyed airway, Ash fired again, blasting off the Undead Pikachu's skull and putting it to rest.

More Undead Pikachus showed up. Some of them were missing fur, some partially disemboweled, most had zombie bites on their sides. A few were so badly mutilated that they didn't look like a Pikachu at all. They all charged as a group, limping and bouncing as they ran on all four legs. Ash cocked the shotgun and fired his remaining rounds at the Undead Pikachus, either making head shots or paralyzing them with a shot to the spine or neck.

Everyone else clumsily held up their shotguns before firing. The first few shots were mere practice, blowing apart part of the Undead Pikachu's legs and stomach as they come near. Once they got used to the shotgun's kick, they began making more of the crucial headshots than shredding their bodies with non-lethal shots.

A third wave arrived, this time it had Undead Pichus. Like the zombified Pikachus, they were horribly rotted and missing fur. Ash noticed that a few of them had bites, most had ribs showing through their fur and their cheeks had sunken in. Had these Undead Pichus hid, and later _starved _to death?

Ash felt a chill down his spine from the thought, but they were dead now. The only thing to do was make sure they rest in peace...

More like "rest in pieces" as the shotguns were a bit too powerful for their tiny bodies. Ash aimed at an Undead Pichu's head as it charged, panting hard grunts with every step. He fired, even though it was a headshot the entire body was blown apart in an unrecognizable pile of necrotic mush of yellow fur and flesh, Ash gagged and almost threw up again.

Ten minutes of shotgun blast and howls of Undead Mouse Pokémon, the bodies of the Undead Pichus and Pikachus were piling up. They began to form a small mound that was 12 meters long, forming a crude barrier at least a meter tall and thick at the base. It served the Undead Pichus and Pikachus well, they used the barrier as a launching platform when jumping up into the air to try to get a hold of a living being . . only to get blasted apart by somebody's shotgun.

"We killed a hundred of them and they're still coming," Mark cried as he struggled to load his shotgun, "We're going to run out of ammo before we kill them all!"

Another wave of Undead Pikachus approached, this time there was a couple of Undead Raichus. They walked on their hind legs, their bodies were bloated. So bloated that some ribs had broken and ruptured through their chests. Their mouths bleed black blood as they snarled, their eyes glowing red as they jogged towards the group. Though half the speed as the Undead Pikachu and Pichus, they make up for that in stamina.

Ash fired a couple of shotgun blast into an Undead Raichu's torso, they took the rounds and shrugged it off. The bi-petaled rodent staggered on its feet and kept of charging towards them, flailing their stubby arms. A single headshot, however, blew apart their skulls like the others and they come flopping down on their faces.

"I'm out of ammo," Cilan cried, "Pansage, use Bullet Seed!"

"Pansage!" the Grass Monkey Pokémon cried.

Pansage hopped on the outdoor table and unleashed an assault of glowing seeds from his mouth, they shot out like a spray from a machine gun nest as they ripped through the Undead Pikachus as they came. The move wasn't entirely accurate, but it was effective. It easily punched through the decayed tissue and knocked them back, a few seeds rounds had succeeded in scoring headshots.

Ash reloaded his shotgun, and soon discovered he too was running out of ammo. Only 5 shotgun shells left, "Pignite," he called out, "Use Flamethrower!"

Tesla's eyes bulged in his eye goggles, "Oh sh*t."

Pignite rushed forward and unleashed a breath of fire, the Undead Mouse Pokémon caught in the flames were quickly set ablaze. Since they were no longer living, they lack any fire resistance. So their fur and flesh burned, giving off a putrid smell of cooked zombie meat. They all scrambled in random directions, confused and disoriented as their hides burned off. They didn't feel the fire, nor they were in pain. But it did have an effect on them. They slowed down and eventually tumble over. But they still weren't dead, they were frantically trying to claw their way towards the group.

The smell of cooked zombie flesh was the last straw, Ash rushed back and vomit in the nearby bushes. Misty did the same, then Cilan, then Iris. Ash's Pikachu moaned as he gripped his belly, the smell made him feel queasy inside but not enough to make him completely nauseous. The other Pokémon had mixed reactions, some went nauseous, others went "Yuck!" The only Pokémon who did vomit was Pignite. After he saw what he done, the Fire Pig Pokémon hurled his breakfast at his feet and retreated back to the other Pokémon.

Tesla didn't seem to mind his former kind being burned, he just smiled and laughed, "I love that smell," he told the group, "Smells like survival!"

"Smells like my dad's barbecue attempt 3 years back," Mark added, "The hamburgers taste more like coal than meat."

"Emolga!" Emolga agreed.

As the fire burned and spew smoke into the sky, no more Undead Mouse Pokémon appeared. Ash held his breath and listened to the silence, just to be sure. There weren't soft snarls, groans, not even snapping twigs and shifting bushes. The only sounds around were the crackling of fire and the muttering of his friends and Pokémon. Ash breathed and relaxed, they held off the Undead Mouse Pokémon but there could be more of them around the corner. Who knows who heard all that noise from the battle.

"Okay, guys," said Ash, "Let's find something to wrap Gary's body with, then bring him back to the Pokémon Center. I don't wanna stick around this place any longer."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	37. Ch 37: Threat Vector

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXVII_

_Threat Vector_

The group searched the small office building and found a bed sheet, they took it back to the abandoned research camp where they wrapped Gary's corpse with it. As they hauled him off to the technical, Ash searched one last time for any clues where Tracey went. There wasn't much to go on, Tracey probably dropped everything and ran off to who know's where. Faraday City, perhaps? Or the country-side?

Nonetheless, Ash was in no mood to comb the forest, it was dangerous enough with the Undead Pokémon on the prowl. Since Tracey had been missing for a month now, he could be anywhere on the island. He could be alive, or dead, or Undead. Ash had to accept the fact that Tracey's gone, though there was a slim chance he might turn up. But where, was anyone's guess.

"Time to go, Ash," said Misty, "We gathered as much as we could, no clues on where Tracey went. I'm sorry, Ash. I wish we could pin down where he went."

Ash snorted, "Then why am I wasting my time here? We found Gary, that's good enough. I'm not expecting to find the two alive and sound anyway."

Misty's eyebrows shot up, "Are you okay, Ash?"

Ash got up and walked passed her, "Are we _all_ okay?" he asked.

Misty didn't answer right away, "I don't know."

Ash kept right on walking, his eyes locked towards the far end of the trail, "The dead are coming back to life," he continued, "even if we live till we're old and pass away with natural causes we still turn into one of them. Everywhere we go, it isn't safe. The threat is still there, it will always be there. And on top of that, there may be other people trying to hurt us. So tell me, is asking me if I'm okay is even a question?"

Misty didn't respond, Ash just rolled his eyes and sighed, "I just feel like my days are numbered. After all the situations we've been on throughout our journey, how are we not prepared for something like this?"

"Mark's prepared," said Misty, "And so is Tesla. They seem to take the end of the world quite well."

"I haven't even seen them get all emotional, nor lose their temper over the most minor things. They must have accepted the fact of Undeath, I don't know if I had accepted it yet."

"Me neither."

When they reached the technical, Mark was helping his Pokémon into the front seat as the rest of the group called into the back. Looks like he's going to sit in the back again, this time with a dead body. More specifically, a horribly rotten one. Ash suppressed the squeamish feeling as he and Misty climbed into the back. Gary's body was laid parallel up against the trunk door, all the Pokémon and trainers were squished towards the front, away from the body as possible. Even though it was well covered, it still smelled like-

"Oh that smell," Iris groaned as she pinched her nose, "Why does it smell so bad?"

"That's the smell of bacteria farting," said Tesla, "Some of that bacteria originated in the digestive tract. When you die, they get loose in the body and devour anything they could find. Mix that with the bacteria in the natural world and you got a massive stink on your hands."

"Axew." Axew yucked.

Pikachu huddled up against Ash and hugged him, "Pikachu, Pika P." he muttered.

"Pikachu says thank you." Tesla translated.

"For what?" Ash asked.

"You protected him from the Undead Mouse Pokémon. I must be honest on this, that was the most fun I ever had in a long while."

"How is it fun?" Brock asked, "We nearly got eaten."

"An experience like that helps you appreciate life more," Tesla explained, "And just the way they explode . . . Yeah, that was amazing by itself. It kinda reminded me of my childhood. Damn those days were messed up."

A thunderbolt struck the ground close to the technical, blinding and deafening everyone temporary. It was followed up with a few more thunder strikes in the nearby area, it sounded like someone was dropping mortars on the group. Ash shook away the deafness and looked over his shoulder, electric sparks spewed out of the craters where the lighting bolts struck. The earth shifted and an Undead Pikachu popped out. Its cheeks sparked with electricity, licking the air for anything to ground into.

"Mark," Ash called out, "Time to go!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cried.

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly, "I'm on it."

The technical instantly drove off as the first Electro climbed out of its hole, by the time a number of them began chase the technical was already down the road. Ash watched as the Electros struggle to pursue them, they all jerked and limp on their hind legs with their rotting front paws sticking straight towards the group. Within seconds, the Electros were out of sight.

"Looks like we lost them." said Brock.

"Good," said Tesla, "I'm too tired for another fight."

Ash relaxed for a moment, he stroke the back of his Pikachu's ears to keep himself occupied. The Mouse Pokémon closed his eyes and tilted his head back, homing in for Ash to scratch the sweet spots.

"Saah..." Pikachu softly cooed.

Ash looked off up in the sky, the white clouds were starting to get a bit dark. There were patches of gray clouds forming here and there, and there wasn't much light shining. Odd, it's only 2PM. For as long as Ash could remember, he hadn't seen a pure blue sky since Day one of the outbreak. Even with the clouds gone, the sky gave off a sinister tan color. During sunrise and sunset, the sky take on a bright reddish color as the sun moves across the horizon.

"Hey, Tesla," said Ash, "Do you know why the sky's all weird?"

"What do you mean by weird?" Tesla asked.

"On a clear day, the sky is tan. But when there's overcast skies, its . . . like it is now."

Tesla looked up at the sky and nod, "It looks like there could be a thunderstorm on its way, a normal occurrence in Faraday Island. But that's during the spring and summer. Speaking of the cold, it isn't doing much in slowing the Undead down. Temperature always hover around 10 to 15 degrees Centigrade. It's only around night where the bitter cold sets in."

"But do you know anything about the weird weather?"

Tesla frowned, "I'm not a meteorologist, Ash. I don't think anyone knows the answer. But what we do know is that every time we look up at it, the sky reminds us what world we're living in now. That's how I view it."

"That's how we all view it." Cilan added.

"Pan Pan." Pansage muttered.

Ash stopped scratching Pikachu's head and rested his hand, the Mouse Pokémon looked up at him with a confused look, "Pikachu?" he asked.

"He's asking why'd you stop." Tesla translated.

"Maybe if I get a comb or something," said Ash, "I could scratch your back better."

"I think Mark might have the appropriate comb, I often see him use a thin comb to groom his Pokémon."

"I haven't even seen him alone with his Pokémon." said Misty.

"I did," said Cilan, "He treats his Pokémon like-"

"Children?" Mark called out through the back window, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yeah."

"If you _really _want to develop such a close bond with a Pokémon, you treat them like they're your sons and daughters. Once you show them such love, they'll stay with you for the rest of their lives. They won't leave your side for anything, unless they need to use the bathroom."

His Pokémon giggled in the front seat, Ash could see the top of their heads bobbed up and down as they bounce in the passenger seat, "Calm down you guys," said Mark, "Nothing to get hyperactive about."

"Emolga!" cried Emolga, her tone serious.

"What the," Mark began to say, soon it became serious, "Holy sh*t, what is this!?"

Ash gently pushed Pikachu off his lap and got on his knees, he looked past the technical's cab and saw the obstacle before them. It was a major wreck, 4 cars blocked the road. A couple of fresh bodies lay in the center, they had bloody noses and apparent broken arms and legs.

But something wasn't right, the way the cars were positioned. They didn't look like they skidded to a stop, there were no tire tracks. Not to mention the damage to the cars wasn't that bad, it looked like someone took a sledgehammer or something and smashed in the front and sides of the cars. And the bodies, they didn't look like they dragged themselves there. No bloodstains said otherwise. Looking closely, Ash could see they were laying on top of something...

Just as Mark slowed the technical down, Ash panicked, "Mark, drive!"

"What!?"

"DRIVE!"

Mark floored the accelerator and everyone lurched towards the back, he quickly drove around the wreck and sped off down the road. Ash looked back and saw several people came running out of the bushes, there were a dozen of them, all armed with hi-powered assault rifles. They all aimed their weapons towards the technical and open fire.

"Get down!" Ash cried.

Everybody got as low as they can to the floor of the trunk as bullets peppered the back of the technical and whistle over head, the world zipped past in lightning speed as Mark struggled to push the technical to its limits. Ash poked his head over the edge and saw the armed assailants retreating to their vehicles. They all got in and began to pull out, catching up to the group.

"They're following us!" cried Iris.

"Axew!"

"Take up arms," cried Mark, "Ash, man the M60 and shoot the drivers of those vehicles. Do whatever you can to disable them, we're no match for a force that vast!"

Ash quickly scrambled to his feet and grab a hold of the M60's turret, he squeezed underneath it and got behind the controls. Instantly he had no idea how to fire the gun, Ash looked up ahead and saw the vehicles coming closer.

Before Ash could panic, he found the safety of the M60. He flicked it to the off position and cocked the bolt back, Ash then aimed the M60 and held his breath.

_Why me?_ He thought as he pulled the trigger.

The machine gun spat out powerful rounds, shell casings eject out of the gun and clattered into the trunk as Ash held down the trigger. The rounds turned the windshield of the pursuing lead car into Swiss cheese, bright red blood splattered everywhere as the car veered off the road. It rolled into the ditch and flipped before landing on its roof.

The three other cars quickly filled in the vacuum, several windows rolled down and the barrels of guns stuck out. Ash saw the look on the gunmen's faces. He saw hardened crinimals, complete terror. There's no way to reason with these kind of people. They want whatever Ash and his friends have. All they had were guns, which was more valuable than gold.

The gunmen fired back, but they were a terrible shot. The rounds came nowhere close in hitting Ash, Mark was moving the technical too quickly for the bandits to get a bead on them. Ash's friends were also having trouble returning fire as well. Inexperienced with their shotguns, and unable to kill other human beings, they focused their shots on the pursuers' tires and engine compartments. They too were unable to focus in on their targets.

But Ash had the advance, the M60 as clipped well into its stand, making the gun more accurate. Ash squeezed the gun handle tight in his hand as he focused at the 2nd driver. He fired a concentrated burst, the windshield got a blast of bullets and blood splattered all over the interior. The car slowed down then veer off the road, crashing head on into an old growth tree. The gunmen hanging out the window flied out upon impact and tumbled to the grown, he let out a loud scream as the chase moved on.

More rounds were fired back at the group, one round zipped past Ash and smashed into the back windshield. It shattered into a thousand shards, dumping glass fragments all over the trunk and cab of the technical. The Pokémon managed to shield their eyes in time and moved away from the broken glass and huddled into each other, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Ash fired a few more rounds, trying his best not to waste a lot this time. The rounds drilled into another windshield and took out a gunmen. He flopped out of the window and hit the pavement hard, straight into the path of the pursuing vehicle behind him. That driver couldn't stop in time, he wound up running over his comrade. Ash saw the wheel of the car caught the gunmen's head and squashed it into a vat of red jello, like it was a watermelon. Blood and brain matter splattered all over the car's body and undercarriage from the spinning wheels, the body was chucked aside like a rag doll and flopped into the curb. At least this guy wouldn't be coming back.

More gunfire zipped past the technical, peppering the back of the technical's trunk door. Brock popped up and tried to return the fire with his shotgun, he managed to let loose a round before being shot. The bullet went through his shoulder, going clean through. It narrowly missed Ash's leg as it lodged itself in the back of the cab.

"Ah!" cried Brock as he clamped a hand over the wound, blood oozed into his shirt as he dropped to the floor of the trunk.

"Brock!" cried Misty.

"Pika ka P!" Pikachu cried.

The technical jerked side to side, bumping Ash against the turret's rail ring. He struggled to get a bead on the last two vehicles but he couldn't get a shot.

"Mark," Ash cried, "Keep it steady!"

"I'm trying," Mark cried, "This truck is losing power!"

"What!?"

Before Mark could answer, Ash saw one of the bandit's vehicles drove right across his iron sights. He fired away, raking bullet holes across its windshield. The driver slumped over and the vehicle veered off the road, it drove into the ditch and tumbled. The motion ejected one of the passengers before the car rolled onto its side, out of commission.

"One more!" Ash cried.

Ash aimed the M60 at the final pursuing car, he got ready to pull the trigger.

_CLANK!_

"What the!?" Ash puzzled, he held down the trigger but no more rounds came out.

Ash checked the bolt and saw it was opened half-way, with part of the casing sticking out. The gun had jammed. He grabbed the bolt and tried frantically to unjam it. No use, the bolt wouldn't budge. The machine gun was useless.

The bandits fired off a new wave of rounds, this time Ash dove for cover. Pikachu was right there, huddled tightly in the corner. Ash wrapped his arms around him, using his own body to protect his Pokémon. He clutched Pikachu hard as more rounds flied over head, Ash's heart raced so fast that it felt like its going to burst out of his chest. He couldn't look up to see if his other friends and Pokémon were alright, nor pull out his pistol and fire back. He squeezed his eyes shut and hanged on to his Pikachu, hoping that he wouldn't die out here.

"F*ck," Mark swore, "I'm losing battery power, I can't take her any farther!"

"I wanna go home," cried Iris, "I wanna go home! I wanna go home! I wanna go HOME!"

"AXEW!" her Tusk Pokémon cried.

"We're out of shotgun ammo," Misty cried, "We don't have much rounds left in the pistols!"

"Well they can't shoot at us forever," Mark barked, "I'm sure they wasted a lot of their ammo!"

"What do we do!?" Cilan cried.

"Pansage!?" Pansage cried.

"I'm tell you what I'm doing," said Mark, "I'm stopping this thing!"

The technical jerked one final time, throwing Ash into the other side of the trunk. He smashed into Snivy and Scraggy, they yelped as the inertia squished their bodies. Next everyone was thrown forward as the technical screeched to a halt.

Ash poked his head up and noticed they were in a clearing, just between the forest and the town of Carson. There were a couple of Undead straggling from afar, and they were taking notice of the battle. They turned their heads towards the group and started limping towards their direction, taking their sweet time.

Mark got out of the technical and shut the driver door, he raised his pistol and unloaded his clip on the remaining bandits' car as it pulled up. The car slowed and stopped. One bandit in the front passenger seat slumped over, two more escaped out the driver side, and one raised his shotgun through the back passenger-side window. Mark fired a few rounds, shattering the windows and scoring a bead on the bandit's head. He dropped his shotgun, it fell out the window and clattered to the ground as the bandit slumped over in his seat.

The remaining bandits fired wild sporadic shots, Ash let go of Pikachu and pulled out his pistol. His Mouse Pokémon cried for him as he jumped out of the technical, farthest away from the bandits as possible. Ash kept his head low as he opened the passenger-side door, Mark's Pokémon huddled on the cab's floor, shivering wildly as they held onto each other for dear comfort. Ash reached underneath the seat and grabbed his AR-15, he pulled it out, setting the safety to off and pulling back its bolt.

"Mark," Ash called out as he holstered his pistol, "How many are there!?"

"Two left!" Mark cried.

Ash crouched and maneuvered around the front of the technical, he peered over and raised his assault rifle. He peered underneath the bandits' car and saw a foot sticking out, Ash aimed the red dot sight's reticle over the guy's ankle and fired a single shot.

It hit where he aimed it, the bandit screamed and dropped to the ground. The remaining bandit saw his buddy's plight, and so took off, "One's getting away!" Ash cried.

The bandit ran across the field as fast as his legs can take him, his remaining buddy continued to scream in pain. His voice shrieked louder than gunfire. Ash held up his AR-15 and aimed for the escaping bandit, he held his breath and placed his finger over the trigger.

A huge tower of light came crashing down on the bandit, letting out a massive boom. The ground shook as the powerful blast of lightning almost blinded Ash, the air quickly became thick of Ozone as electricity danced across the sky. Within a second, it was gone as fast as it came. Ash saw what was left of the bandit, several body parts and organs flied everywhere in a bloody soup, scattering everywhere and coating the green grass red. His gun was the last to fall from the sky, it had melted, looking like a burned up plastic toy.

Ash turned towards his friends in horror. Tesla stood on the edge of the technical's trunk, his red cheeks sparkled with emanating energy. His eyes showed determination, and anger. His fearsome pose was almost enough for Ash to be afraid of Tesla, but his heart had seen enough fear from the Undead.

"Damn, Tesla," said Mark, he crawled out from underneath his truck and brushed himself off, "You vaporized him!"

Tesla's cheeks ceased sparkling, "You're just lucky I hadn't done that to you when we first met," he said, showing a grin, "None of us would even be here."

"Did you turn him into dust!?" Iris asked, her face also showed horror.

"Axew!?" Axew chirped in fear.

"Can we talk about this later?"

Mark drew his gun and trained it on the surviving bandit, the guy moaned in pain as he tried to drag himself. Just as he came out from around the car, Ash got a look at his face. The bandit had red hair and a face full of freckles, he looked like he was around his late twenties or early thirties. Hard to tell since he had a bit of a beard forming on his face.

"Now what to do with you." says Mark as he aimed the gun at the man's face.

"Ugh..." the man moaned, he squirmed on the ground as he clutched his ankle. It bled bad, but it didn't appear to have a major blood vessel badly damaged.

"What's your name, Red?" Mark asked.

"Randal." the man muttered under his breath, he looked off at the distance as if he wasn't interested in Mark.

"Where's your base?"

"Faraday Incarceration Center."

"Were you a prisoner there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Shoplifting."

"Hmm, I don't think the police won't mind you looting the nearby stores during these times. Who was the guy who took off?"

"Gerald, he done hard time. Y'all seen his cowardice."

As Ash approached, Mark flipped his pistol's safety to off, "Ash," he said, keeping his eyes trained at Randal, "I got some duct tape in the glove compartment, go get it and bound his hands. We're going to take him with us, we'll interrogate him properly once we get back to the safehouse."

Tesla crawled up and got a look at Randal himself, "Hey there, Red."

Randal looked up at Tesla, his eyes shot wide open, "Tesla Westinghouse! Holy crap, I used to watch your Pokémon battles on TV when I was 8 years old! I didn't expect you to still be alive!"

"And I can't believe I still have fans around," said Tesla, "Especially those who are still trying to kill me."

"We didn't see you."

"Doesn't make a difference, everybody wants my hide."

As Tesla chatted away, Ash searched the technical's glove compartment and pulled out some duct tape. He returned to Mark and handed the roll to him. Mark tore out a long strip and grabbed Randal's wrist, then bound them together.

"There we go," said Mark, he then tore out another strip of duct tape, "And just to be sure..."

Mark wrapped it around Randal's eyes, completely obstructing his sight, "Oh, come on!" Randal cried.

"Shut it," said Mark, "Save it for later. Tesla, don't talk to him during the rest of the trip, we'll need to handle this with Wally."

"Fine." Tesla grumped.

Mark and Ash picked up Randal and carried him to the technical, then dumped him in the back. He let out a yelp as his broken ankle hits the bed-liner trunk floor, "You think you can get the technical back to the safehouse?" Ash asked.

"A stray bullet struck the electric engine," said Mark, "I can run the truck on the Hydrogen fuel cell, but by the time we get back I don't think we'll be able to take this truck out again. Unless we replace the electric engine."

Ash looked off into the distance, the Undead who witnessed the shootout were now closer but were still far away to raise concern, "Ash," said Mark, "Search the bandit's car for anything useful. I'll see if I can get the truck started again."

"Got it." said Ash.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	38. Ch 38: The Angst of the Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XXXVIII_

_The Angst of the Nightmare_

Ash found a few shotguns, assault rifles, and pistols in the bandits' car. He also found some ammunition for those weapons, Ash barely got all the loot in the technical in time as the Undead draw near.

When the group was back on the road, Cilan helped Brock keep pressure on the wound. Randy sat blindfolded, being silent as Tesla eyed him carefully. The other Pokémon sat nervously, shaken from the shootout. Ash's Pokémon stared at him most of the way, like they were afraid of him. He, too, was shaking. Ash could barely keep his hands still, he kept his head down, listening to the drone of the technical's tires rolling across the asphalt road.

_I just killed living people... _Ash thought.

Yes, they were a threat to his friends. Yes, they shot Brock. They were hardened criminals, maybe even Randal, but they were still people. People who were desperate to grab a hold of supplies, food, and water...

Tesla revealed his true power, he gave everything he got into vaporizing the escaping bandit. At his weakest, he could take off a person's hand. His strongest . . . an entire body, ripped to shreds by high voltage of specialized electricity. He showed only anger, a temper he had seen on occasion with him. But this was different, the look on Tesla's face was the same he shown when they first met.

And Ash remembered how well that went.

He glanced up and checked on the old Pikachu, Tesla had fallen asleep, resting his head against the side of the technical's trunk. He looked exhausted, had that Thunderbolt zapped most of his energy?

"You okay, Tesla?" Ash asked.

Tesla's eyes fluttered open, he turned his head and glanced at Ash. The trainer could see fatigue in the old Pikachu's eyes, "That Thunderbolt wore me out," said Tesla, "I just don't feel like moving at all, it's like I hadn't slept in weeks. I shouldn't have unleash all that energy, I should have shot the guy instead."

"I had him in my sights."

"Well, you were too slow then. He got what he got, can't change that now..."

The old Pikachu's voice trailed off as he hunched over. His eyes drooped, Ash watched as Tesla flopped on his side and started snoring. Oshawott glanced at him in curiosity, he gave Tesla nudge to wake him. He didn't stir, he was too deep in sleep.

"Oshawott?" Oshawott puzzled.

The Sea Otter Pokémon turned away and left Tesla alone, he glanced up at Ash for a second before dozing off towards the sky.

"It wasn't my call," Randal muttered, "I was just a pawn, those guys were assholes."

"I saw you shot Brock." Misty asked.

"We thought it was going to be an easy raid, we didn't expect to get nailed by an M60."

"Does it make you feel better that it's now jammed?" Ash asked.

Randal turned towards Ash, somewhat facing him as he tried to pin down his voice, "That's not my concern anymore."

"F*ck, it ain't!" Mark swore from the cab.

The technical buzzed and crackled, Mark pumped the accelerator as it began to slow down, "Come on, don't stall on me now!"

The vehicle groaned and sputtered, then something popped.

"Damn it," Mark cursed, "Engine's dead, this car's a goner."

The technical slowly rolled to a stop at an abandoned commercial district, then Mark put on the breaks, "This is as far as she can go." he announced.

"What do we do now?" Misty asked.

Ash thought of an idea, though he doesn't like it, "I'll get out and push the technical back to the Pokémon Center, how much does it weigh?"

"400 kilograms," said Mark, "Way less than your average fossil fuel car."

"Even better."

"I'll shift the technical to neutral, if the Undead show up then you give it all you got. If there's a horde, we ditch the technical and everything in it."

"Then less talk, more pushing."

Ash hopped out of the trunk and got behind the technical. When he got into position, the emergency lights clicked on and began blinking in a timely matter.

_How appropriate. _Ash thought.

Just as he placed both hands on the technical, his eyes went big. The trunk door was riddled with dozens of bullet holes, every corner was covered with them. Ash was amazed how the trunk door stopped all those rounds, cause they would have killed him and his friends within seconds.

"There's a lot of bullet damage on the trunk door," he shared his find with the group, "I can't believe they didn't go through."

"This car has bulletproof armor installed," said Mark, "I guess it wasn't a waste of money after all."

"Mark," said Cilan, "You're a genius!"

"Only if Tesla agrees. Do you, Tesla?"

Tesla stirred and muttered, "What?"

Mark explained what Ash found, the old Pikachu quickly gave out his answer.

"I'm downgrading you from dumb ass to smart ass on the idiot scale."

Mark and his Pokémon laughed hard, everybody else chuckled, "Fair enough." Mark muttered.

Ash began pushing the technical, it slowly rolled forward without much effort. It surprised Ash how light this vehicle was, he didn't have to strain himself to get it moving. Mark kept the vehicle on course as his friends keep a lookout, however Ash looked over his shoulder every few minutes, just to be sure they weren't being followed.

He didn't have to push it that far, the Carson Pokémon Center was just around the corner. As he pushed the technical up to the front entrance, its shuttered opened up. Wally and several police officers ran out, with guns drawn.

"What happened!?" Wally asked as he surveyed the damage.

"Bandits," said Mark, "Brock's injured, everybody else is okay but shaken up. We managed to capture one of the bandits alive."

"Okay, bring him inside."

**. . .**

Randal was taken to a back room where the police kept a watchful eye on him. It didn't take much convincing that he was a threat, after seeing the damage done to Mark's technical they were convinced that Randal was dangerous. Nurse Joy did her best and stitched up Brock's wound, he held strong as she sewed both the entrance and exit wounds. After adding some rubbing alcohol and bandages, Nurse Joy sent Brock to the living quarters where he slept off the rest of the day.

The police cleaned out the technical, taking all the guns and placing them in the makeshift armory. Mark later pushed the technical into the parking lot and, though unnecessary, locked it, before heading back inside.

Ash took his AR-15 and sat it on his bed, he head back downstairs where Mark was talking to Professor Oak. He took a deep breath as he approached, "So what did you find, Ash?" Oak asked as Ash approached.

"We found a few clues," said Ash, "But no direction where Tracey went. We found Gary, unfortunately."

Professor Oak looked away for a moment and sighed, "Did he turn?"

"Yes."

"Judging by the state of his body," Mark added, "he was probably devoured by the Undead, and what's left came back. I have no doubt that he was already an Undead since Day one."

Professor Oak returned his attention back to Ash, "At least you brought him back, just like you promised."

"I made sure it was fast for him," said Ash, "I looked away when we put him down."

That, of course, was a lie. Mark glanced at him in response, he understood the tension as it was, "I put him down," he backed up the lie, "I should have used something other than a shotgun."

"Doesn't matter now," said the Professor, "You did what you have to do, now did you bring any good news?"

"Yes," said Ash, "But I want to go it over with you and Mom in private, what we found may be our best chance at survival."

Delia came rushing out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms around Ash and almost sobbed, "What happen," she asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No," said Ash, "But Brock is."

"We were ambushed by bandits," said Mark, "They tried to disguise a really bad car accident to pull us into the kill zone, but Ash spot the ruse in time."

He didn't add his role in firing the M60, but Delia had heard enough, "The roads are getting more dangerous, we just learned an hour ago that there was some trouble brewing in Kirto and Electron. Armed gangs are buzzing around, no telling where they'll strike next."

"We bagged one of the people who attacked us," said Ash, "He sounds alright, though he was the guy who shot Brock. We can reason with him."

"What are we going to do with him?" Professor Oak asked.

"We'll have Wally decide," said Mark, "Either way, this guys is pretty much screwed as it is, and so are we. Tesla may have already decided, since we discovered he was a fan of his Pokémon battling – and Tesla _hates _fans."

"There's so much to go over," said Ash, "Mom, Professor Oak, can we step into a room where we can discuss in private?"

"Sure." said Delia.

Mark stepped back and looked over his shoulder, "I'll . . . tend to other matters. Call for me if you need anything."

Ash led both Professor Oak and Delia to a secluded, yet private, room. His heart raced, he hadn't thoroughly thought out what he was going to say. If he spoke all the wrong words, they would disagree to the plan, and convincing them would take a few days. Maybe weeks. And the disabling of Mark's technical wouldn't help the odds either, travel would have to be by foot now. But the scavengers always went out to forage on foot, it was faster, or efficient. Perhaps safer? No, not when there's a horde of Undead wondering around.

Now what if they agree, so what? How can they get a dozen people, plus 8 Pokémon, to coordinate such a move? Where would they go? The roads were now dangerous, thanks to the criminal population running a muck. Even if the group was well armed, even with body armor perhaps, they still won't be no match for a massive Undead horde. Just hundreds of them, endlessly coming from all directions with seemingly no end in sight. A dramatic final stand may be in order, but in the end, even committing suicide, everybody will still get eaten regardless.

No doubt this was on their minds.

When the three walked into the room, Delia shut the door behind them, "What is it?" Ash's mom asked.

"We found a new safehouse," said Ash, "A farm completely untouched by the chaos going around the world. It belongs to Tesla's former trainer, Irvin, who inherited it from his father. There's enough food to last us for at least 2 years if we don't take in anymore people and Pokémon."

"So that's the surprise," said Professor Oak, "Amazing!"

"But there's a problem," said Ash, "Mark's technical was shot up when we were coming back, its engines are dead. The only mode of travel would be on foot, unless we get another car from somewhere."

"What are our options in traveling on foot?" Professor Oak asked.

"The roads were obviously filled with Undead humans and bandits, the wilderness has a lot of Undead Pokémon. Me and my friends had to take out an entire herd of Undead Pikachus just to make it out of there alive, it would be just as dangerous as taking the roads. Either way, there isn't much to go on at the moment."

Delia nodded, "Is there another route we could at least take?"

"That would be Mark's call, he knows how to navigate the forests around here."

"The new safehouse option sounds good," said Professor Oak, "But that means we have to leave the Pokémon Center, and the other survivors here."

"We'll still keep in touch with them on the radio," said Ash, "It isn't like the Carson Pokémon Center is going anywhere."

"Ash," said Delia, "Tell me how you survived that encounter with the bandits, just what happened back there?"

_Uh-oh, _Ash thought, _What should I say?_

"They tried to trick us into thinking someone's hurt," said Ash, "They did a poor job in making the car accident convincing, there weren't any tire marks or bloodstains. I told Mark to floor it, and they all hopped into their cars and chased us. When they caught up to us . . . there was gunfire everywhere. Most of it went into the trunk door. Mark had the technical armored prior to the Undead apocalypse, he hinted it could be a waste of money. I'm glad he did, cause we would all be dead if it wasn't for his clever ideas."

"Praise that boy, I can see you two were good friends. Though I don't like his attitude still, he keeps bringing up inappropriate subjects."

"You don't even know half of it."

Delia chuckled for a moment, then got serious, "Did you fire back?"

Ash gulped, _I'm screwed._

"Yes, I did."

"What did you use?"

"I used the M60 machine gun and...

Ash's voice stuttered and muttered, he felt his eyes tear up. He hugged Delia tightly and cried softly, "I don't know how I'm going to handle this, mom. I didn't have a choice."

"I just wish you finished your childhood before," said Delia, "But you can take care of yourself, you always had. I'm worried you wouldn't make it."

"I was _this _close to dying, and people just don't die anymore!"

Ash broke down crying, and his mom pat him on the back and calmed him down. Professor Oak stepped back, probably thinking of leaving the room. Ash whimpered for a few minutes and let it all out, tears trailed down his face and was absorbed his mom's shirt. Thankfully Pikachu wasn't seeing this, that would had made things hurt even more.

"I wanna go home," Ash sobbed, "I already miss Pallet Town before, now I really miss it."

"I wanna go home, too," Delia whispered in his ear, "I want our lives back, I really do."

"That's not going to happen, even if the world returns to normal. Society is broken, we're lucky to be on this island where there's still some fragments alive and well."

Delia kissed Ash in the cheek and said, "We'll be fine, you know what you're doing. We'll wait until the time comes to move to the safehouse, and we'll wait until order is restored to the island."

"You know that we turn into an Undead in the end regardless." Ash reminded her.

"I know, Ash," said Delia, "I know."

"I'll see what I can pack," said Professor Oak, "If we ever leave, we're going to need to be ready, such as the event the Pokémon Center is ready to fall."

Professor Oak opened the door and left, Ash lets go of Delia and took a deep breath, "Feeling better?" his mom asked.

"For the moment, yeah," said Ash in a low tone, "I need a few days before I could get over it."

"Go back to the living quarters and rest, you earned it."

"Okay, thanks mom. I love you."

"I love you too, son."

**. . .**

Strutting nonchalantly down the halls, Max was heading off to the living quarters. He had just seen the Pokémon Center Pikachus again today, but they weren't the same since the first few days of the outbreak. They were scared, horrified, and crying on each other's shoulders for dear comfort. Max found himself hugging a few Pikachus, even soothed a few of them to sleep. Normally the Pikachus would be the ones cheering folks up, but they lost a lot of friends. Maybe they were family members, if so, then that would explain a lot.

When he was about to leave their room, a few Pikachus pleaded for him to stay. When Max explained he must leave, one Pikachu burst down crying. Thick beads of tears trail down their cheeks as they drop to the floor, curling in a fetal position to ease their grief. Max stared at the crying Pikachu as he walked backwards out of the room.

_Poor Pikachus_, Max thought as he kicked a used bullet cartridge across the hall, _Breaks my heart seeing them_.

"Please," said a muffled voice, "No!"

The voice omphed as someone punched him, Max shot his head up and wondered what was going on. He turned toward a door where his friends were keeping the Randal guy, Max pressed his ear against it and listened.

"No," Randal pleaded, "No!"

Max jumped back when he heard a bone crunching kick. With eyes bursting with terror, he ran down the hall and back upstairs.

**. . .**

Natas sat in the corner of the room, clutching his magnum pistol in his hand. Randal repeatedly took a few blows to the face as Mark unleashed his anger on him, the man whimpered and cried. When he hunched over, Mark kicked him in the stomach which forced him back up, "Please," Randal pleaded, "I'll do anything!"

"You tried to kill us," said Mark, "You had that look in your eye as your other comrades!"

"We didn't know . . . I didn't know! We had no clue what we're dealing with!"

"Well now they're dead or Undead, and you're going to meet a fate worse than death if you don't tell me what else they had in store!"

Mark gave a sharp kick into Randal's stomach again, he omphed and moaned. Blood began trailing out of his nose, dripping on the floor in tiny crimson circles. He struggled to break the duct tape bonding his hands, all he managed to do was tire himself out. Mark pressed his foot against Randal's bandaged ankle, he let out a high note that could shatter glass as far away as the South Pole.

_This is going nowhere_, Natas thought to himself, _This guy has nothing of value._

This would be something to report to the boss. Though it might not have any value to his intentions, Ash did bring him back. What were they going to do to poor Randy, are they going to line him against the wall and shoot him? Or serve him to an unsuspecting zombie horde as dinner? Natas wasn't there when the bandits attacked Ash and his friends, but he had experienced ambushes a lot during his army days. The fearsome temper Mark was putting out showed how hopped up he was.

With his technical destroyed, they lost a force multiplier. This would make efforts of looting and scavenging more difficult in the long-run. The scavengers would run more, which requires more calories, which increases the demand on food, which makes the food supply drop faster, and the scavengers would have to find more food – breaking more sweat than they need to. Rationing would be more strict, and people would go hungry more often. Once folks are uncomfortable, the group would be prime to argue over the most minor incident. Like using too much toothpaste.

The lack of food can cloud anyone's thinking, even a trained survivalist. Natas knew how to grow premium potatoes, even in soil with not much nutrients. Grinding up bones from zombies would make suitable fertilizer. Hopefully zombie bones aren't infectious after a period of time.

Mark probably hadn't have proper food in a while, Natas could tell it in the boy's eyes. His body was more leaner, more than his friends and acquaintances. Natas bet Mark's ribs were more prominent than the others, all that energy he was unleashing upon Randal would make sure of that.

"What are they planning!?" Mark spat as he repeatedly kicked Randal's stomach.

He backed away and watched as Randal spat out blood, "I heard talks that they're going to raid the Carson Pokémon Center tomorrow," he let out a rapid-fire cough for a few seconds before adding, "They know where it is, they said they learned of the guns from the radio transmissions!"

"How am I surprised," Mark asked sarcastically, "Maybe you guys have a mole in this building somewhere, a sleeper, like in the movies."

"I- It could either be tonight or tomorrow night," Randal continued, "I'm not quite sure, they didn't tell me much!"

Mark leaned a hand against the wall and processed his find, "What do you think, Luke? You sure he's telling the truth?"

"I bet 10 clips of ammunition that he is," said Natas, "If there's an attack imminent, then we gotta prepare this place."

Mark approached Randal and kicked him one last time, "Fair enough, I'm done here anyway."

The Faraday City resident slammed the door behind him, leaving Natas alone with Randal. The prisoner kept his head low, muttering unintelligible words. He cried and moaned, might as well leave him alone to cool down.

Natas grabbed the nearby roll of duct tape and taped up Randal's mouth, then grabbed the potato sack off the counter and pulled it over the prisoner's head, "Stay there, don't move," Natas warned, "I'll be back."

Randal nodded sheepishly, making frantic grunts underneath the duct tape.

"I mean it." Natas added.

When he left the room, he placed the horizontal bar on the door. Mark added the crude, yet sturdy piece of metal just to be sure that Randal wouldn't escape. No way the bar would come off without anyone knows about it, the piece of plumbing pipe ringed with a tune when it dropped into the hinges. Natas made his way back to the roof and relieved the watch on duty, once alone he pulled out his specialized communicator.

It was no bigger than a stop watch, yet it contains a powerful antenna and a Lithium button battery that would last for 5 years. Hopefully it would last longer than that, since batteries are a hard item to come by during these dark times, not to mention that they're no longer being manufactured. Just to be sure that the voice coming out of the communicator doesn't travel farther than intended, Natas pulled out a pair of ear buds out of his pocket and plugged them in. Once he put the ear buds on, he looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was there. There wasn't.

He held down the talk button and raised the communicator to his mouth, "Natas here."

"Hello again, Natas," said his boss through the tiny ear buds, "Anything to report?"

"Things are getting a bit hairy on the Island, you want the long version or the quick version."

"Give me the long version."

It took 10 minutes for Natas to tell his boss how Ash helped Tesla put down his dead trainer, how he saved his friends from a cannibal, how he went out to who know's where and came back – telling unspeakable horror and guilt. Natas kept his eyes trained on the stairwell door the entire time, trying to be prepared for anyone walking through, "The boy has changed," Natas finished off, "The look in Ketchum's eyes, I never seen a soul so scarred in twenty years. His mom is ready to give up on him, his friends were wondering what to do with him, but Mark and Tesla continues to give him unquestionable loyalty."

"He was almost bitten by a zombie and was shot at by bandits, how can I blame him? Can you earn the kid's trust?"

Natas thought for a moment, "I may had f*cked things up a bit, I . . . uh, crushed him when I told him his Pikachu's tail is a handle for an Undead hand to grab. I think I hurt his Pikachu's feelings more than him, but it may be worse than it looks."

"He isn't arrogant," said the boss, "So you may still have a chance. Remember this Natas, that boy and his Pikachu must _live_ for our plans to work. Keep him alive for the next three days, make sure he doesn't get killed. On the third day, you contact me, and I'll give you your final set of instructions. Over and out."

"Yes, boss." Natas said as he unplugged the ear buds and put the communicator away.

_He never really told me why that boy is so important_, he thought, _I'm starting to like the kid_.

His hand pressed against his pocket, containing the two .16 gauge shotgun shells Ash had given him for his double-barreled shotgun. Natas wondered about the boy, worried of him, like he was his own son. The kid was determined to survive in a world where he had no future, no obtainable dream, and no guaranteed safety. What was keeping him going was his friends and Pokémon, they were family to him. Natas understood that. Without family, a person's nothing...

He shook his head at the thought. It wasn't_ entirely_ true. His parents were gone, his other relatives were gone, everybody he once knew and cared about were gone. His Pikachu he once cherished was gone, now buried in the backyard of his house – Natas made a mental note to go back home and check on the remains, since dead folk now had a habit of getting back up and walking off. He managed to get a high-paying job at Team Rocket, he get to test out new technologies and steal Pokémon for profit. Natas never agreed with the idea of stealing Pokémon from the wild and their trainers, not even his boss – no wonder why he overthrew Giovanni.

Natas sat down and pulled out his wallet, he took out the picture of his Mouse Pokémon and stared at it. He missed those silly eyes, how they twinkle when he giggles and squeal in joy. His Pikachu always loved to be held, bathed, even cuddled. The Mouse Pokémon wanted to play a lot, Natas fulfilled those demands despite the heavy issues of his journey days at the time. Just seeing his Pikachu die in his arms...

"I just wish I could do more for you, buddy." Natas muttered to himself as he put the picture away.

_Three days_, Natas soon thought, _Just three more days, I gotta get some form of relationship going with Ash. Just a nudge in the right direction, and I may be alright from there . . . But which direction should I go?_

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	39. Ch 39: Traditional Justice

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter IXL_

_Traditional Justice_

With a roof over his head, and armed guards everywhere. He was in a safe location. There were beds, some fresh food, and enough books in the library to keep him occupied for years. If he were to get hurt, there was medical personnel to take care of him. If he needed to take care of hygiene and sanitation, that can easily be arranged. Even with all the basic needs taken care of, Ash still felt he was being haunted by ghost. Despite not being alone.

Where everyone can protect him on the outside, he was left defenseless on the inside. The flashbacks from the bandits, the harsh pray drive that they unleashed upon him and his friends still felt fresh. Brock got shot, probably by Randal. But Ash wasn't to sure, he didn't feel like accusing anybody at the moment. Besides, that was the least of his concern.

The main fact of the matter was that he had killed human beings in the most brutal way possible. Killing Undead wasn't that hard, since they just look like people. But these were living people, people who were condemned to a life behind bars because of misdeeds to society. Now that society was gone, they wanted payback. He felt their wrath, felt the brush of death. But the criminals locked up in Faraday Island's prison were stupid. Hopped up from wealth and lust from their new-found freedoms of the apocalypse, there was no reason to reason. If there was a problem, you just _shoot _at it and it goes away. Right?

Ash wasn't so sure what they think, he never experienced that end of the spectrum before. Brushed against it, but never joined up for it. But the evil he saw was attacking his heart, metaphorically of course.

So when the nightmares were just too much, Ash woke up abruptly in the middle of the night. He gasped, and instantly became full alert. Ash stared out into the darkness of the room and listened to the hum of the ventilation system as it circulates air throughout the Pokémon Center. He soon realized he was covered in cold sweat, his clothes soaked with fear, and his underwear . . . Ash didn't wanna know if he wet himself the other way.

Pikachu was still asleep beside him, unfortunately he wound up getting partially soaked by his trainer's sweat. But it didn't stir the Mouse Pokémon, he slept on peacefully without a care in the world.

Ash pulled off the covers and placed his bare feet on the floor, he gave it a moment before standing up. His friends all slept soundly in their beds, Ash heard the slight snore from the Pokémon as they huddled up with each other or their trainers. He also heard what he thought was Tesla's snores, but he couldn't tell the difference between his snores and Brock's and . . . and . . . Professor Oak's?

He finally mustered the nerve to stand up and discreetly step out of the room. The hallway was dimly lit, with just a couple of ceiling lights glowing. Ash walked down the hall and walked into the attire room, he opened it up and saw a full room of unattractive and neutral-colored clothing of both genders. Normally these were given to human patients after they were stripped of their clothes went through surgery, now they serve as a substitute for pajamas.

Ash shut the door behind him and stripped himself naked, he tossed his sweat-stained pajamas into the wastebasket and approached the Men's dressers. He scanned the label-sizes printed on the dressers, Ash opened up the undershirt dresser of his size and pulled out a gray t-shirt. He slipped on the shirt and opened up the boxer dresser, he pulled out a dark gray pair of clean boxers and slipped those on as well.

It was good enough, Ash shut the dresser doors and took a deep breath. Images of Undead Pikachus and marauding bandits overwhelmed his brain as yet another wave of flashbacks were unleashed upon him. He shook the thoughts out his head before leaving the attire room and back to the living quarters.

Pikachu murmured under his breath, he too was being bombarded by horrible nightmares. Ash placed his hand on his bed to check if it was still moist, it still was. Not wanting to sleep on it, Ash carefully picked up Pikachu and pulled up the covers till it touched the pillow. He then laid down on that and cuddled his Mouse Pokémon, Pikachu managed to calm down and breathed easier. Somehow his instincts was playing with him, telling him to panic when his trainer wasn't around and calm down when he was, these days Ash was more of a Pokémon caretaker than a trainer. He wasn't sure training Pokémon how to use guns and kill things that were already dead count as Pokémon training.

Ash let out a yawn and went back to sleep, might as well ask that question to Tesla when morning comes around.

**. . .**

_I suppose another day won't hurt_, Max thought as he ate his morning rations, _Just another day, maybe I'll be home tomorrow_.

He had been here for . . . how long, 37 days now? All the people and Pokémon weren't doing to good, and the sickness outside wasn't helping. Max glance over their faces, wondering who else was sick. Would they lose their senses, and if so, how would they show it? Ever since the Crawford debacle, he couldn't look at meat the same way again. Meat comes from Pokémon, specially selected Pokémon. But people, why people? How could a human being eat another?

Max shook the thought aside and took a bite out of his rations, it tasted more foul for every day that passed. He missed the hot prepared food his mom makes, and in the restaurants. But eating these MREs, they tasted like . . . what's the word for it?

His friends didn't like them either, but not that local. That Mark Kissinger with the silly Emolga, they seemed to _enjoy MREs._ Max watched them casually ate out of the MRE vacuumed-sealed bag, chatting among the other people about unusual stuff. Ash sat next to him, his eyes stare into space as he ate out of his rations without pleasure.

He didn't look like he slept well, his eyes – once filled with joy – had bled self-esteem to the point where they became dark and empty of emotion. His Pikachu just sat by his trainer with a similar expression, but it was more heartbreaking. Max missed Pikachu's smile and the twinkle in his eyes, he always lit up from the slightest thought of helping someone. Now generosity had . . . lost its touch, there was no joy left. Just a major depression Max had yet to understand.

Mrs. Ketchum kept glancing over at her son as she ate her rations, she probably noticed he wasn't talking to anyone or petting his Pikachu. Well, all mom's would worry about their sons. Max thought about his mom, how she must be worried sick about this mess. Their home island, Hoenn, wasn't that heavily populated. Or was it? Max forgotten about the news reports that had ceased long ago, maybe the island was alright. The military and local policemen might had it secured, his mom and dad could be alright. They had to be, they had to!

Max caught himself staring blankly at the wall, he discreetly snapped out of it and took another bite out of his rations. Interesting, the MRE was barely half full and it already been 20 minutes. He glanced around the room again. Ash's Unova Pokémon sat silently in a corner, eating their rations. They look so depressed, it made Max's heart ache. They looked more down than usual, was the bandit attack really that bad as everyone said?

Mr. Natas came into the room. He had a look on his face, something was up, "We got a problem," he announced, "It's about Randal, he managed to tell us a few things."

"Yes," said Mark, "He told us that bandits are going to raid us either today or tomorrow, I don't know how many there will be but I do know they will have high-powered assault rifles. They know where we are for quite some time and they're going to make their way here, so we got a fight on our hands."

Everybody stopped eating, they all stared at Mark and Natas as they held their breaths, "Then we gotta defend this place," said Brock, "We gotta board up the windows and arm ourselves."

"_That _is what I'm thinking, but the bandits are the least of my worries. Their weapons are unsuppressed, if they start shooting they're going to attract every Walker in Carson and in the surrounding countryside. Even if we managed to fend off the bandits, we'll have to fight off the walking dead. Unlike the Living, the Undead won't back down. The hordes can range just a small group or an entire crowd, packed shoulder to shoulder. Me and Ash just barely escaped with our lives when we encounter such a massive horde."

"So we have to fight off bandits and Undead?" Cilan asked.

"Pan?" Pansage asked.

"In two separate waves," said Mr. Natas, "If we're lucky, they may inadvertently drive off the bandits for us. If we're unlucky, they will break through the defenses we put up."

"Can they get through those shutters?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked as well.

"No doubt they'll _hug _the shutters, but they won't get through. If we keep things quiet and we just ignore them, the hordes will disperse and wander off."

"They're attracted to sound," said Tesla, "But they can sniff us out if we leave a window open."

"So as long as someone don't pull the fire alarm," said Mark, "We'll be fine."

That earned a few chuckles, Professor Oak sat down his rations and added, "What about the Undead Pokémon, they have better ears and noses than their Undead human counterparts."

"Not to mention they're much faster if they have 4 legs," Mark added, "There could be some Undead Pikachus out there, they're a real pain to put down if you get a group of them."

"That would be more of my problem than yours," said Tesla, "They'll be after their former than people."

Max saw Ash's Pikachu shiver from the quote. Poor thing, that old talking Pikachu scared him.

"Can you handle them?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I can. I got a few ideas on how to dispatch them, just you wait and see."

Ash put down his rations and asked, "What do we do with Randal?"

Everyone went silent for a minute. Max didn't know what was going on, and was curious to know. But the look on Ash's face told Max something grave, something didn't feel right.

_What's going on? _Max asked himself.

"We can hold him as hostage," said Brock, "Maybe we can reason with the bandits."

"It's a lot easier if you reason with one bandit," said Tesla, "But an entire group of them? Fat chance. I bet y'all my tail if they don't give a damn about him, Randal's just another object in their eyes. In their world, people are objects. They can kill a hundred or so children with their bare hands and not shed a tear, yet break down when their pet Lillypup died. They don't understand why they were locked up in the first place. Not only do they _have _no empathy, but they don't have much of anything. The reason why people are worth . . . sh*t to them is that they cannot be controlled. So they value Pokémon as loved ones because they can be controlled and manipulated."

"How do you know this?" Professor Oak asked.

"Nobark. My best friend viewed humans as an arrogant species that must be – uh, excommunicated from the planet. He ain't wrong either, humans pretty much built the economy to run off of Pokémon – for either benevolent, or malevolent purposes. With this in mind, Nobark built up an army of Pokémon who were abused and neglected by poachers and abusive trainers. He manipulated them to-"

Tesla abruptly stopped and glanced over at Max, the kid sat nervously, returning the stare, "Yeah," the old Pikachu sighed, "Let's just say Nobark didn't see another day because of his actions, he was due a long time ago."

"So there's just no reasoning with them." said Cilan, that wasn't a question.

"No dice," said Mark, "You can dream about reasoning with them, but I can tell you the dream will shoot you."

"I say we kill him," said Tesla, "Even though he's not insane like Crawford or Nobark, I just don't see how his _comrades _will gladly take him back into their ranks. All they care about is themselves, and no one else."

Max raised an eyebrow, _What? _

"So we just going to shoot him in the head and burn his body," said May, "Can we just, let him go?"

"It's a death sentence out there," said Mark, "Especially for someone with a broken ankle, he's not going to make it in a couple of days."

"We can grill him for knowledge of special caches his friends might have hid." Professor Oak suggested.

"I already did that," said Mark, "All he said were plans, not caches. Even if he did, chances are the caches are buried in the forest and the Undead Pokémon will have _no regret _in sinking their teeth into my face . . . I'm with Tesla on this, I say we kill him."

"I vote we kill him," said Brock, "We don't have a prison to hold him anyway."

"You can say that again," said Officer Wally in the next room, "I vote to euthanize him, I'll do the deed myself."

"You can burrow my crossbow," said Mark, "Much more quiet and quick."

"I vote we let him go," said May, "We're not going to murder another human being!"

"He almost killed all of us," said Tesla, "He even shot Brock!"

"I vote we let him go," said Cilan, "No way we're killing a man!"

"I'm abstain," said Iris, "I don't wanna play with someone's fate."

"Axew." the Tusk Pokémon spoke.

"Axew's saying to let him go," Tesla translated, "Anybody else."

"I'm abstaining." said Professor Oak.

Mrs. Ketchum shook her head, "I'm abstaining, I'm just don't wanna be part of this."

Mark tallied up the votes, "So we have 3 votes for letting him go, 3 abstaining, and 3 votes to kill him. We still have some votes uncounted for."

Misty looked down for a moment and sighed, "Kill him," she grunted, "There's no chance he's surviving out there anyway."

Max's eyes bulge behind his glasses, he felt a drop of sweat trail down the back of his neck. There's a majority in killing Randal. He couldn't believe that his friends were so divided over this issue, killing a person for a crime he may or may not have even commit. There's just something not right here...

"Ash," said Mark, "You and your Pikachu haven't voted."

Ash sighed and shook his head, "I already euthanized many of his friends, they were all shooting at me – not you guys. I have to abstain, you can do whatever you want with him."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

"Pikachu's abstaining," Tesla translated, "Okay, now we got 5 abstained."

_Uh oh_, Max thought, _They're going to kill him!_

"Do I get a vote?" Max blurted out.

All eyes turned to him, "Sure," said May, placing an arm over his shoulder, "What's your stand?"

"We let him go, he was only desperate. He might not even shot Brock."

"He's right," said Mark, "Ash, you were the one shooting back at them. Which car was Randal in before you started wiping them out?"

"He was in the back car," said Ash, "The guy who shot him was in the car in front of him, I hadn't seen much action from the last car until you stopped the technical and we all got out..."

Suddenly Ash lit up, "I change my stand, we let him go."

_Yes! _Max silently cheered, though he didn't show it. He had no idea who this guy was, but at least he isn't going to be killed."

"So that's 5 votes in letting him go, 4 votes to euthanize, and 4 abstained," said Mark, "Now what about Ash's other Pokémon, and Pansage? What is their vote?"

Pansage stood up on the couch. His eyes boiled with rage as held out his thumb, and dragged it across his throat, "Pansage!"

"5 votes to euthanize," said Tesla, the old Pikachu turned to Ash's Pokémon, "Okay, we got a tie. What is your guy's vote? Thumbs up to release Randal, thumbs down for traditional justice, or palm for abstaining?"

Ash's Unova Pokémon wasted no time in giving him his answer, Oshawott, Pignite, Scraggy, and Snivy all held up their thumbs and pointed them towards the floor.

_You gotta be kidding! _Max screamed in his head in sheer shock.

"So," said Mark, "With a total of 18: We have 5 votes for releasing Randal, 4 votes abstained, and 9 votes for serving traditional justice to Randal. Looks like this group has a euthanize majority."

Max remembered overhearing Randal's torture yesterday. He shivered, they're going to kill him. No, this mustn't happen. It mustn't! He stood up from the couch and pointed out for the entire group, "It is not our call to kill him! _Everyone_ in this Pokémon Center must have a say in this. Besides, Randal hadn't told his side of the story. We need to get a better understanding of this, if we are to prepare a defense against the bandits. So we're going to need him alive!"

"A trial," said Tesla, "Yeah, we can do a trial."

"Do we have time?" Professor Oak asked.

"Look," said Mark, "I beat the crap out of Randal to get him to tell us we're about to be raided, anyone says all kinds of stuff when being tortured just to get the pain to stop."

Wally snorted, "Fine, we'll do a trial. We'll get a proper judge, jury, and lawyers. We'll sort this all out."

Everyone started putting down their rations and left the room, Max let out a sigh of relief. But Randal wasn't out of the woods yet, his life was still on the line.

"Max." said May.

Max looked up, "Yes, sis?"

"You did great, brother."

Max sheepishly nodded, "I did, but there's more to come."

**. . .**

The entire waiting room was cleared out, all the chairs were rearranged and pushed back to make room. One of the Carson police officers was chosen to be the judge, he had a non-biased opinion about law and a degree in political science. The jury was carefully selected. 12 people, who had no idea what was going on and wasn't all that emotional about kids, were selected and they all took a seat. As the other police officers went on alert, most of the survivors in the Pokémon Center gathered in and outside the room for the trial.

Ash felt nervous, sweat formed underneath his armpits as he sat in front of the crowd. From the looks of everything, he didn't know what to think. Society was dead, yet they're giving a bandit a fair trial. He was indeed shooting back at his friends, trying to kill and pillage for their things. But Ash was the one who killed most of his comrades. What does that say about him? He wasn't the Pokémon trainer like before . . . to come to think of it, maybe he wouldn't be able to go back to Pokémon training if the apocalypse blows over.

If_ it blows over. _Ash thought.

His Pikachu sat beside him, scared out of his mind. Though there was no danger, Pikachu kept his ears up to listen for any potential threats. He gripped Ash's arm for dear comfort, it wasn't doing much. Ash tried putting his arm around Pikachu's shoulders, the Mouse Pokémon calmed down a little, but the tension was still there. It made Ash's heart ache to see his Pikachu – or any of his Pokémon for that matter – engulfed in terror. He did his best to protect him, but their wasn't much Ash could do for Pikachu.

He scratched the top of Pikachu's head, he relaxed as Ash shifted his hand across his Pokémon's scalp.

"P!" Pikachu yelped, jerking his head forward in an involuntary reaction.

Oh, it was that tender spot. Ash had forgotten about that. Pikachu let out a soft whine and rested his head against Ash's side, "There there, Pikachu." Ash softly says.

Ash's friends approached and sat by him, they all didn't say a word. Did they still trust him? Yes, they do. But there was a problem. He had broken down, finally broken down and his mother comforted him for it. That happened behind closed doors, but there was no denying it. Ash had that look on his face, he showed it. Their suspicions were further proven when they found him sleeping on top of his covers, somehow Cilan figured out he had went through a cold sweat that night. Maybe Ash showed all the signs, maybe he found the unusually soaked clothes in the attire room. Or maybe he stuck his hand under the covers and felt it was soaked.

It doesn't matter how he figured it out, anyone could have figured it out. So far Tesla hadn't confronted him about the incident, in fact he barely spoke of it even though he turned a full-grown man to dust within a flash of light. Ash had shot Randal in the foot, had he shot him in the head the survivors wouldn't be having this trial. Smart of Max to bring up the lack of order they had, it stopped the death penalty in its tracks.

_Or maybe postpone it_, Ash thought, _Clearly Randal wasn't walking out of here, not on that ankle. Yet the deal was to get rid of him if he was innocent, which one was _really _the death penalty?_

"You ready for this, Ash?" Misty whispered into his ear.

"No." Ash honestly said.

"Me too." Cilan whispered.

Ash shifted in his seat and sat back, _You can say that again_. He thought.

Wally escorted Randal to the front of the room, he had a black bag on his head to prevent him from seeing anything. The room went silent within seconds as Wally slightly dragged Randal into a chair, once the bandit was seated Wally got out a roll of duct tape and taped him in place. A few wraps around the lap and bottom of the chair was good enough, but just to be sure, Wally wrapped Randal's torso to the back rest of the chair. He stepped back and handed the duct tape to the judge, who placed it on a chair behind him.

Natas came forward and pulled the black bag off of Randal's head. Ash's eyes shot wide, Randal had a blood stain trailing from his nose down to his chin. He also had a black eye, but it wasn't that bad. The rest of his face and arms were bruised, he looked more of a victim than a bandit. That may aid in Randal's favor. Fact was, he wasn't an a-

"This court is called to order," said the judge, "We have here Randal Ostermann, age 28, former prisoner of the Faraday Incarceration Center. Sentenced to 3 years for shoplifting of a grocery store. He is accused of the attempted murder of 6 children, ages 10 to 18. If he is found guilty, he will be taken out and shot. If he is found innocent, he'll be freed, but will not come near the town of Carson or this Pokémon Center in the near future due to his previous sentence."

That got people whispering among each other, somehow Ash felt that Randal was going to win and might get a chance to stay in the Carson Pokémon Center. To come to think of it, Randal didn't even aimed his gun at him and his friends in the first place.

Wally leaned forward and glared into Randal in the eyes, "Can you tell us what you were doing before the said raid?"

Randal looked up at Wally with his good eye and took a breath, "Surviving."

"Surviving what?"

"The dead that walk."

"With whom?"

Randal shook his head, "The worst kind of people."

"Tell us about what group were you with, and what were they doing."

Wally stepped back to give Randal room, all eyes were now on him, "Before the outbreak, the prison was home to the worst kinds of prisoners. People who were convicted of murder, rape, that sort of thing. Them folks are the worse kinds, they repeat offenders. I was landed in the slammer for shoplifting and 2nd degree murder . . . I bumped into a man while running out of a grocery store, he hit his head on a fire hydrant and snapped his neck.

"I was there for only a week, they all had them look in their eyes. A very few of them, I overheard from their conversation, how they said it was absurd for them to be locked up because they killed their girlfriend for being defiant.

_Tesla's right_. Ash thought, remembering what the old Pikachu said about the prison.

"When the plague happened," Randal continued, "Things went to sh*t fast. The guards activated the dreaded protocol, they first killed the prisoners with the life sentences then the ones with murder convictions, rape charges, bank robberies. I sat in my cell, scared out of my mind. Me and my cellmate barricaded the door with our bunk beds, then fetched out our custom-made weapons called shanks.

"We sat there for a good long while, with no clue on what was happening. I thought about my parents, and my sister. She's only 12. I thought I would never see them again when a huge splatter of blood smeared on the door. Suddenly the door opened up, and a Walker was right there before it. He was one of the prisoners, I later learn he was shot. Somehow he came back, but he was just a shell of a man once before. Without thinking, I shoved the end of my shank into his skull. I had to stab him a few times to get him to drop again.

"You know who opened the doors?" Wally asked.

"Someone got into the control room and unlocked every cell in the prison. When I stepped out, I saw the guards going from cell to cell, shooting the prisoners. And the prisoners they shot, they got back up with red evil eyes. I was in a prison gang, we banded together and took out some of the Walkers. Some of the guards ran out of ammunition and were either killed by the prisoners or eaten by the prisoners they had killed. We learned right away that the death of people makes the Undead.

"The guards completely lost control of the prison, and the prisoners wiped out the rest of the Undead. Once we insert our will onto the Faraday Incarceration Center, we lost half the prison population. But nobody cared, since there was more food for everybody. Eventually the power grid went down, and those cities who don't produce their own power . . . Well, you know."

"Did your group attack Ash and his friends as they were passing down the road?" Wally asked.

"Yes," Randal admitted, then he got all wired up, "But it wasn't my idea, that was the gang leader's plan!"

"So how did your gang leader worked it out?"

"Well . . . The plan was very basic. Act like you're hurt to draw any passerby into the zone, then ambush them. Steal their stuff, kill them afterwords. We have no plan on taking anyone captive, there's no point to it anymore since we have all we needed at the Incarceration Center. We got a few people who traveled down the main road without effort, then the technical rolled by and-"

"Stop right there for a sec," said Wally, "So this time, Ash and his friends were coming along the road in a technical right?"

"Yes, they were."

"What happened when they did?"

"The driver slowed down, falling for the trick. But Ash . . . um, his name, right? Well, he figured it out. They took off in a second, and the chase began there."

Wally nodded, "How many cars did the bandits had?"

"Four." Randal answered.

"Which car were you in?"

"The one behind the rest of the convoy as we chased the technical."

"The bandits fired the first shots, Randal?"

"Yes, but we couldn't get a bead on them. We were terrible sharpshooters. But Ash, he got on the technical's machine gun and took out three of the vehicles. Just right outside of Carson, we stopped there since the technical's motor was shot. I got out of the car, and before I could get into a defensive position I was shot in the leg and another bandit with us was killed. The driver of the car made a run for safety, but somehow Tesla turned him into dust in a flash of lightning . . . I was then captured, and brought here with duct tape over my eyes."

"You were tortured?" Wally asked.

"Yes, I bore the scars from it, you see."

"By who?"

"The driver of the technical."

Ash looked around for Mark, he saw him sitting near the wall. He kept his cool as he petted his Emolga, who rested on his lap. His Pikachu and Cheering Pokémon duo sat in the chair next to them, huddling each other for comfort. They too were scared. Ash was amazed that Mark kept his cool, he clearly had a harsh temper the way he tortured Randal, but somehow he kept his cool. Strange, he seemed confident, like he knew something was going to happen. But what was it?

Wally stepped up and nodded, "I think we heard enough."

He grabbed the edge of Randal's chair and dragged it aside, then pulled up an empty chair. Wally sat aside and watched as a new lawyer came up, this lawyer was another police officer. He had blond hair and a mustache, if only he had a pair of mirrored-sunglasses on, that would complete his image, "Ash Ketchum," he said, "Please take the stand."

Ash stood up without a word and approached the chair, he sat down and looked out into the audience. He saw his mom and Professor Oak sitting among the folks, his friends stared at him, completely worried about his well-being. His Pikachu sat there, he had tears forming in his eyes.

"Now," Randal's lawyer began, "What were you doing out there to begin with?"

"Personal reasons." Ash answered.

"What kind of reasons?"

"We were looking for a couple of old friends, we found one of them, unfortunately."

"You were bringing his body back." That was no question.

"Yes," said Ash, "I was."

"Along the way back, you encountered a roadblock. What was it, really?"

"It looked like a car accident, but it wasn't."

"How do you know for sure?"

"No tire marks on the ground, the bodies weren't mangled or bloody, and they all hand their hands like they were covering something. It was too obvious, it was a fake. I told Mark to take off once he slowed down, then they all got back to the vehicles and followed us."

"Randal said you got on the machine gun," said the lawyer, "Correct?"

"Yes, he did."

"What kind of machine gun was it?"

"An M60, Mark found it in the Carson Police Department's gun vault. He found the turret stand for it in the garage, he claims he's burrowing it."

"You know how to use it?"

Ash shook his head, "No, I just went with my gut feeling. No time to think and learn, my friends' lives were on the line."

"Okay then," said the lawyer, "What happened when you got on the machine gun?"

"I fired back at them, they riddled the technical with bullet holes and shot Brock in the arm. I fired away on the M60, I wasn't properly aiming it. I riddled the windshields with so many holes..."

Ash paused for a moment and looked away, "Uh, excuse me, sir. I'm still shocked from it all."

"Give us the short version then." the lawyer bluntly say.

Ash gave it a moment before continuing, "I took out three cars, Randal was in the 4th. So when it stopped he got out and positioned himself on the side of the car, away from us. Mark opened fire with his pistol, he killed one guy still strapped in his seat. Another guy ran off, but Tesla got him with a Thunderbolt. I shot Randal in the leg, he went down instantly."

"Who's idea was it to bring him back here?"

"It was mine."

"Why?"

"I can't just leave another human being there."

"A human being who was trying to kill your friends, but instead you killed his."

Ash felt a shiver trail down his spine, the lawyer had him by the noose. But it was a loose one, there was enough wiggle room to break free, "Excuse me, he didn't say the other bandits were his friends. He stated _clearly _that they were the worse kind of people who were locked up in the prison. And they were firing away at me and my friends, Brock was shot, it doesn't matter if Randal was the shooter or not. He was-"

"Lower your voice, Ash." the judge warned.

_Thanks for the warning_. Ash thought, he didn't realize the tone of his voice until he heard that question, luckily he caught it in time.

"He was what?" the lawyer asked.

Ash licked his lips and tried to remember what he was going to say, "He was responsible, sir. He did stuck his gun out the window and fired back at us, I believe it was his bullet that stalled Mark's technical. But that wasn't why Mark tortured him like he did, his Pokémon were in the front seat and the bullets were flying over their heads. I saw the look on their faces, they were terrified without a doubt. _My _Pokémon were terrified, they couldn't control their emotions ever since they saw some friends got eaten in front of them."

The lawyer nodded in agreement, "You're a Pokémon trainer, correct?"

"Yes."

There was silence for a moment, Ash felt his heart race as he gripped the bottom of his chair. The lawyer processed that thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, then. We'll come back to that thought later. You may go sit back down."

"Thank you, sir." said Ash, his voice lacking emotion.

When Ash sat back with his friends, Pikachu snuggled beside him. One by one, Ash's friends were called up to the stand. They all shared their version of the incident, they all spoke of the same thing but all said they had their heads down. Which was true, since bullets were flying overhead and were destroying anything they hit. Randal's gun was brought forward, it was an AR-15. Unlike the group's weapons, his was dirty and slightly rusted. It looked like it could jam at anytime.

"Is that all the testimonies?" the judge asked.

Tesla walked up and stood on his hind legs, "May I have the stand, your honor?"

The judge eyed him suspiciously, "Sure . . . go ahead."

The old Pikachu walked up to the chair and sat down, then Randal's lawyer approached, "What were you doing with Ash and his group?" he asked.

"I was helping them," said Tesla, "I've helped them ever since I got here."

"On the many long-term trips out of the Carson Pokémon Center, you was the one who talked them into doing something. What was that trip to Faraday City for anyway?"

"I wanted to make sure my trainer didn't come back, he'd been dead for twenty years. I needed some help, I knew I couldn't do it alone."

"Did you get it done?"

"Yes . . . I saw him come out of his grave, he was more of a monster than a human being. I took his head off with a single blast of a shotgun, and a 70 year old bond was torn down in an instant."

"What shotgun was it?"

"A 12 gauge Mossberg 500. Ironically, it was given to me by Irvin on my 40th birthday. When he died, and I ran off into my own affairs, Emmett Kissinger – who was a rookie in the FCPD at the time – gotten a hold of the shotgun. He kept it with him ever since."

"Surely it was an emotional experience for you."

Tesla frowned, he waited a few seconds before responding, "It wasn't. I already shed my tears, felt my grief, and put it behind me a long time ago. I just wanna make sure that no deity takes a hold of his corpse for its own purposes. Mark videotaped the whole thing, we can pull it up on an HDTV if y'all want to see it."

The lawyer looked at the judge, "You want to, judge?"

"Another time maybe." the judge answered.

The lawyer turned his attention backed to Tesla, "Okay, what were you doing before the raid."

"Looking for Ash's friends," said Tesla, "With him and his group, we only found one of them. He had turned, probably festered in the forest for about a month with his legs stripped to the bone of meat."

Professor Oak gulped and cringed in his seat, but kept his cool.

"Once we put him down, we had a horde of Undead Mouse Pokémon come out of the woods and attacked us. Pichus, Pikachus, Raichus, every member of the Mouse Pokémon family whose zombified came out and attacked. Their appearance was just as bad, flesh stripped of bone, disemboweled, and bloodthirsty. Boy, they let out a frenzy when they saw me and Ash and Mark's Pikachus. We held them off without difficulty, those some got a little too close for comfort."

"Fast forward to the bandit attack, what did you do?"

"I kept my head down throughout the entire chase, I can still smell the gunpowder from laying flat on the trunk floor. I was used to such stress, used to being shot at. I couldn't do much since I don't have any ammo for my own gun, and I was too stunned for a Thunderbolt. It was until the end of the chase where we stopped for a final showdown, I laid my sights on a bandit trying to run away. After a month of survival, it was all over for him once he turned into a pile of burned jerky."

"So you hit him with your best Thunderbolt."

"Is that even a question?"

"No, it's not."

The audience murmured among each other, sharing their thoughts in whispers and low voices. They were too faint for Ash to pick them out, but he had no doubt what they were thinking. Tesla was a dangerous Pokémon to begin with, he had killed countless people in his lifetime.

"I think we heard enough." said the lawyer.

"May I please point out one thing first?" Tesla asked.

Before the lawyer could respond, the judge beat him to it, "Yes, you can."

"Thank you, your honor."

The old Pikachu turned and faced the jury, "The judge mentioned that Randal Ostermann had attempted murder on 6 juveniles, but he did not mention about the attempted murder of their Pokémon as well. You all know what I'd done in the past two decades since you last saw my last Pokémon battle on TV or in the Faraday City Gym, I had killed countless amateur trainers and police officers who tried to catch me. And for those I didn't kill, they're scarred for life. I was a wanted Pokémon, an outlaw. Do you know what would happen if I were to be caught and arrested?

"Judge, I object." Randal's lawyer interrupted.

"Overturned," the judge said, "Go on, Tesla."

"I won't get a trial, I won't even get a lawyer. I'm not going to be locked in a cage, which was how I was introduced into Pokémon battling before Irvin found me. I'm too smart for them, I could escape from any cage and I can wipe out a small group of fully-grown men. I was too dangerous for them to keep down. I was a candidate for the death penalty.

"They won't put me in an electric chair or give me lethal injection, they're just going to shoot me like a crazed dog Pokémon. Just like that, without a second thought. You see, Pokémon don't have the same rights as humans. We're 2nd class citizens to the eyes of the law. We have no voice, cause we can't speak human words. This society we once all lived in a month ago was literally _built _with Pokémon as a special cog for its engine.

"Pokémon . . . these creatures we train and have them fight against each other with simple commands. Either for our amusement or improving our status. It cost us our freedom. Yes, we're fed, bathed, even loved. But there are humans out there who do the opposite. They're just different piles, it's all the same. If a Pokémon is in the property of a human being via these Poké balls, or by some moral contract, then we have no freedom. We may get a long leash, but that leash still has a limit.

"With the death of my trainer, I have once again regained my freedom. I didn't run away because I was grief stricken. No, I overheard a conversation that I was going to get a new trainer. I'm just too well-trained and know so much that I don't even need a Pokémon trainer, so I broke all my remaining friends free from their Poké balls and gave them a choice. To either leave and find a new life, for be transferred to a new trainer. I left them with that thought in their head, and took shelter in the nearby forest for 20 years.

"Some simply got themselves a new trainer, but some couldn't handle it. There were suicides because Irvin was more of a caretaker than a trainer, it just wouldn't feel the same. A few Pokémon, including me, escaped to retain our freedom. I haven't heard from most of them since, and then I heard about Nobark's . . . uh..."

"But now all that is gone, the dead had risen and tore up our society. Pokémon battling is dead, and everything associated with it is also dead. Now Pokémon and humans are on the same page, everything they know is now contradicted or useless because of the Undead."

"But you have the advantage." noted the lawyer."

"My advantage is that I was trained to kill, not to incapacitate. I was desensitized, robbed of my morality when I was taken away from my parents and siblings from Team Rocket. I had no sympathy or empathy for those who . . . take part in the lucrative business. So, if Randal is to be convicted for crimes against humanity, can we all hear the crimes these people did against Pokémon?

"We have Pokémon here that are no longer in your ownership. They're your family members, complete with all the privileges and rights of a human being. Know this, and know this well. If the Undead apocalypse were to extend for an infinite period of time, they aren't going to be with you or _you're _not going to be with them forever. I know this by experience, the end is much closer than you think. Make the best of your Pokémon's days, cause there won't be any left."

He let the thought sink in for a moment before stepping down from the stand, Ash watched Tesla leave the room, walking out on his two hind legs with defiance and dignity.

One of the jury members stood up from his chair and faced the judge, "We've heard enough, is there a room we can vote in?"

"Next door is fine." the judge said.

"Very well."

Ash watched the jury stood up and walked out of the room, he looked down at his Pikachu who looked up at him with watery eyes, "Pikachu." he muttered.

"Don't cry, Pikachu," said Ash, he stroke the side of his Pikachu's head and rubbed his ears, "You'll upset everybody if you do."

"Pika." Pikachu whimpered.

"May Ho-Oh have mercy on your soul." Mark whispered into Ash's ear.

He turned around and saw Mark sat behind him, his Pokémon sat in his lap shaking nervously. They weren't crying, but they were scared, "You have anything to say, Ash?" Mark asked.

"Have we lost our humanity?"

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Good question, do you still care for others?"

"Yes." Ash replied.

"Then no, you haven't."

"I said _our _humanity, not _my _humanity."

"I asked myself that same question, but I also asked myself: What is humanity? Is it behavior or a code of moral ideals? Whatever the answer may be, I think you still have yours. But as for me, I'm not sure. I shot Henry in the head, I didn't shed a tear over it. I tried talking this over with Carley but I couldn't get through to her, she was too far gone in her affairs that . . . I don't even know her anymore."

"What about our Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"Our Pokémon aren't human beings, Ash. Tesla made a good point about it, look how we treat them. We feed them pellets we call Pokémon food, we make them eat on the ground or floor in these bowls. We keep them in Poké balls, like they're baggage. I think Tesla tricked all of us by keeping our Pokémon out of their Poké balls by playing with our hearts, using common sense to back his plan up."

Ash thought about it for a second, "You may be on to something here."

"I am," said Mark, "He knows what he's doing, he got your Pokémon to use guns. I, however, had already been teaching them firearms for quite some time. Even teaching them how to kill Undead, that isn't enough. They're scared Ash, they're scared because they fear they're going to lose us."

"Maybe because we're all they know," said Ash, "Had we set them up for failure?"

Mark sighed, "You know, Ash, I have to be honest with you about answering that question."

Ash nodded and held his head down, "I understand."

"You shouldn't feel guilty about yourself, Ash. You accomplished a lot in your life from your Pokémon training days, I bet the people you met around the world are thinking of you right this minute as they huddle in safehouses, with their friends and families in their arms."

Ash let out a smile and relaxed in his chair, "I suppose my journey really means something after all."

"Ash," said Mark, he reached out and placed a hand on the Pokémon trainer's shoulder, "Your journey hadn't really ended, it only just begun."

"Those are bold words for these dark times."

"Pika Pika." Ash's Pikachu agreed.

"Live life to its fullest, because whatever's keeping the dead in this world . . . I don't think I wanna find out what's going on in the next dimension."

Ash chuckled, "So much for suicide."

Mark laughed and shoved Ash forward, "There we go, that's the spirit!"

The room went silent again, the jury returned from the other room and took their seats in their usual spot. The lead jury remained standing, he faced the judge with confidence and nodded, "We've reached a verdict. But before we tell this verdict, we would like to have a small note to make with everyone."

"As you please." said the judge.

The lead jury then turned to face the audience in the room, "We've realized that either if this man is executed or released, there would be death either way. This man had sustained a broken ankle during his plight, he won't get pretty far with the Undead roaming outside. In fact, we don't believe he'll make it at all. If we keep him here, there would be a risk that he'll betray the group, even if he provide no role in the attempted murder of Ash Ketchum and his small band of friends.

"There is no doubt we have mistrust amongst us, ever since Crawford's crime against nature act. But what we cannot deny is that we become a monster at the end of our lives now, either if we make it to ripe old age and die peacefully, regardless who we were. This thought has plagued our senior resident, Tesla Westinghouse, we all know this Pikachu has daily suicide thoughts. But what's keeping him going is Ash and his friends, who cared for him despite his background of justified killings.

"So Randal Ostermann, being the sole survivor of a group of bandits, must be held fully responsible for the actions took place. We found him guilty on attempted murder of 6 juveniles, _and _9 Pokémon."

Upon hearing the verdict, Randal sniffled and lowered his head, "Do what you have to do, my family is dead. The sooner you get this done, the faster I get to be with whatever is left of their souls. They'll understand, in the end we're all just trying to survive."

Ash cuddled Pikachu in his arms and hugged him tight, the Mouse Pokémon hugged him back for dear comfort.

_So this is it for him_, Ash thought, _What have I done?_

This was how the world worked now, no place was safe. People had to die so other people can live. But why? Why can't anyone work together when they have a common enemy? It bothered Ash deep in his heart, that people he would meet might not survive the next day. They were dying all around him, there was so much death . . . Ash couldn't wrap his mind around it all, he was too young to handle this...

"Ash," Misty whispered in his ear, "It's over."

Ash shook his head, "It's never over."

Wally approached Randal and undid his bonds, "We'll use the suppressor on you, then."

Randal let out a snort, "Is that your way of saying I have the right to remain silent?"

That brought a few chuckles in the audience, but it was dry humor. Once Randal was freed from the chair, the judge tossed Wally back the roll of duct tape and tore out a strip. He pulled Randal's hands behind his back and bond them tight, "Let's go." said Wally as he shoved him forward.

Just before Randal would take a few steps, something stirred outside. Ash's ears perked when he heard several tires squeal against the pavement, it sounded like a bunch of cars were speeding down the road. Everyone quickly took notice and asked themselves what it was, "I wonder what's that all about." Mark commented.

_BOOM!_

The floor shook as the blast rose from below and shutter the other floors of the Pokémon Center. The lights flickered violently from the heavy shaking as dust seeped out of the ceiling, Pikachu panicked in Ash's arms as he sat there stunned – but strangely – not scared. His friends scattered out of their seats and drop to the floor, protecting their heads with their hands. Everyone else screamed at the top of their lungs as more people hit the deck, the judge dropped for cover as Randal simply fell over. Wally maintained his balance as he drew his pistol, his eyes were wide alert as his cop instincts kicked in.

Ash just sat there until the shaking ceased, he then sat down Pikachu and calmly stood up. He shook the blank stare out of his eyes and glanced over at Mark, who had a hand gripping his seat with an arm wrapped around his Pokémon, "Time to move, Mark." Ash urgently says.

Mark released his grip from the chair and Pokémon, "Got it."

He turned towards the rest of the survivors in the room as they frantically got to their feet, gunshots began ringing outside as people scream and yell from down below, "Y'all get a gun," Mark ordered, "I think we're under attack!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	40. Ch 40: Dead Eye

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XL_

_Dead Eye_

Before the Undead apocalypse, Carson was a bustling port town vital for Faraday Island's economy. It served as the hub for the importation of food, medicine, and natural resources. With 500 kilometers of ocean separating the island and its parent region Unova, self-sufficiency was a must. The island produced its own power, road system, even their own automobiles. To keep the cost down, everything was recycled. Very little was thrown away.

To make sure Faraday Island gets its needed resources and products, it all had to come through Carson's ports. Once there, it was transferred, by rail, either to the industrial centers for processing or to the major cities where they're shelved in the local stores. Then they wound up in the hands of the consumers who wanted them for their own purposes.

The bustling town of Carson had since went quiet ever since the Undead outbreak, the plague spread fast as forgotten corpses rose from the ground and attack the local populace. In the town's desperation, stores were boarded up and abandoned. Over the next few days, they were stripped to their frames and tiles for every useful tangible they had. All that was left were bodies, both dormant and stuck between the point of the living and the dead.

These corpses continue to limp and clumsily fumble along in a drunken-like gait. Sometimes with arms, if any, sticking straight out to grab a hold of a potential meal. Their eyes glowed red, anything they saw was devoid of all the colors of the light spectrum except that single color. Like looking through a red filter, their vision was demonic. To them, the world looked like the darkest depths of the Netherworld where they were suppose to originally be.

The unknown force that reactivated their brain stems was far from done with them, it pulsed with 4th dimension energy, bending around the fabric of the universe just to keep the Undead brains powered. The Undead weren't aware of this energy, they were most focused on the need to feed. Thanks to a faulty hypothalamus and primal instincts of the brain stem, the Undead seek eating living flesh whenever they can.

A small group of Undead had herded together and were walking in a random formation, heading down a random direction in search for food. One of them was a former Carson firefighter, wearing a pair of tattered overalls, a stained t-shirt, and a pair of worn down foreman boots. His face and skin had deteriorated for the course of a month, small lacerations and scrapes had formed on the greenish-gray skin.

One may note that this zombie had no bites to indicate a source of infection. During the first few hours of the Undead apocalypse, he was just getting ready to leave for work. To him it was just another ordinary day, until he turned on the TV. The shock of realizing the end of the world caused his heart to skip a beat, it failed, and he was dead before he hit the floor. It only took him 2 hours for him to turn.

When he did, unconscious impulses directed him out of his house towards the place he once work. Then after a certain time period, he came slumbering back to his house. The pattern he had developed in his former life and firefighting career was alive and well in a dead nervous system, it was a tiny spark of what was left of his humanity. A spark of his former self, still twitching in a desperate attempt to reclaim the ability to reason against the rouge Undead brain.

It was just mid-day when this Undead was walking with the herd, like on a daily commute. Though normally he would head directly towards the Carson Fire Station, this time he drifted off the usual route to follow this herd. There was something about following other Undead that make things seem better, like they all had something in common. But what was it, and why do they look familiar?

The small herd of 8 zombies trailed down the main street of Carson. Some stopped and looked around when ambient noise sounded. Their hearing, remarkably, retained the normal range they had when they were fully alive. But it was a curse, with no models and memories to determine what the sounds were, they became fixated on where they were coming from. Amazingly they can pinned down the exact source of the sound, like the bat Pokémon. Sometimes they would get bored and drift off again, completely forgetting about the sound altogether.

But this time, something sounded that they can't possibly ignore.

The Undead herd stopped in their tracks when they heard an explosion in the distance, they all froze their feet in place and listened. Several pops of gunshots fired away at the direction of the explosion, and they weren't that far away.

The explosion and gunshots made the zombie firefighter jump, startled from the noise. But that's not all, that tiny spark of his humanity had turned from an echo into a small flame.

Dead synapses began firing sporadically out of the hypothalamus and into the corpus callosum, through these nerves the synapses traveled into both hemispheres of the Undead brain and grounded into the frontal lobe. Several small areas of this vital lobe were reactivated, having been turned off for a month things were clumsy when being reactivated. The Undead firefighter blinked, a form of behavior rarely performed by zombies.

Yes, he remember now. The frontal lobe may be reactivated, but it wasn't entirely turned off. Most of it was still offline, and will probably remain so, but just a few vital parts being turned back on was good enough. The Undead firefighter raised up his discolored hand and stared at the palm, he moved his fingers and rotated his wrist. He then clamp his hand into a fist and squeezed it tight, then shot his attention towards the sound of gunfire.

"RUAHH!" he roared in a distorted monstrous voice.

His Undead comrades turned towards him in curiosity, their faces were emotionless but they were interested. Looks like a fellow Undead was on to something.

Once those isolated frontal lobe segments were fully working again, the Undead firefighter remembered who he was – or once was. Merle, yes. That was his name, Merle. But what was his last name? The Undead firefighter couldn't think, nor did he care. What he cared was that his need to feed now had some meeting, the craving of the flesh of the former. The mysterious energy that had reanimated Merle was still in control. It was now using that reclaimed fragment of humanity the zombie firefighter's advantage.

Merle regained some memory fragments, though they were distorted and felt like they were made thousands of years ago, they were enough for Merle to remember where everything was. More importantly, what he needs. The fire station, somehow went untouched from looters, contained a gold mine of tools. Merle remembered the training on how to use them, even remembered using them during his firefighting days. The purpose of these tools were to save lives, and now, they have a new purpose. All Merle had to do was get to them.

He made his way towards the fire station, not minding the crowd of zombies following him. If any Undead were to be passing by, and just so happened to see this, they're going to band with him. Well, it was always said that there's strength in numbers.

The red brick building loomed overhead, the side door to the station was open ajar. Merle pushed the door wide open and limped through. His fellow Undead stopped before the doorway, like there was an invisible barrier preventing them entry. Good. Having dead weight around might get in the way of things, for the moment.

Merle walked into the massive garage, lit up by sun-facing windows at the top of the high walls. There was the familiar fire truck, sitting there waiting to be used, maybe it would never be used again. A few synapse cracked through his brain cells, memories of him riding and using the fire truck in his former life came to mind. Those were good memories, a tiny part of Merle missed those days. Even though Big Red was no use for him, the familiar equipment he came for was right there, where he left them.

As he approached the tool shelf, he noticed they yellow fire hat laying on the ground. Merle reached down and picked it up, a few synapses sparked, returning the memories of his firefighting uniform. He examined the hat for a long while, then glanced over his shoulder. On the brick wall near the garage doors, he saw a row of firefighting uniforms hanging on their respected hooks. They were hanging there for a month, his colleagues hadn't touched them before the outbreak. An instinct told Merle to put it on . . . somehow.

Merle turned back towards the metal cabinet. He stuck the firefighter helmet on his head and attempt to adjust it, Merle found it difficult to coordinate his hands, not to mention he couldn't feel anything. His sense of touch was long gone, just like most of his emotions. Once Merle somewhat got the hat on, he approached the metal cabinet. He stuck out his arms, he overshot his hands and bumped them against the doors. He struggled a bit to get a grip on the handles, then pulled on them.

The metal doors didn't budge, they stayed in place. Merle fiddled with the door handles for a few minutes, he had long since forgotten how to open these kinds of door handles. Knobs and simple latches was all he could remember, but these handles? Hmm, why not try turning them?

Merle twisted both his wrist and pulled, the metal doors swung open. Inside were a dozen or so fire axes, hanging off of some sort of rail. Below them were 76cm crowbars, all leaning against the back of the metal cabinet. Merle reached out and grabbed one of the fire axes and held it up, the blade of the ax shined under the rays of the sun. It was the perfect tool, he could tear through a drywall and hollow-core doors with this.

A synapse sparked, Merle remembered using the fire ax. Just lift high, and call it down. Yes, this was the perfect weapon.

Now to get the uniform on.

**. . .**

Ash shoved his way through the crowd of people to get to the hallway, his friends struggled behind him, held back by the masses. Some police officers instructed the survivors to head upstairs to the 4th and 5th floors, everyone complied and began to make their way there. The survivors were panicking, children screamed and Pokémon cried. The only thing they didn't do, surprisingly, was cause a stampede in a mad dash for the nearest exit.

Pikachu clutched tight on Ash's shoulder as the trainer made his way down the stairs, when he got to the entrance he gasped. What used to be shutters and glass doors was now a gaping maw, serrated steel fragments and broken glass littered the floor and jammed into the walls. A couple of police officers laid on the floor, they had debris sticking out of their chests and necks. It was an instant death, or so it seemed.

The other police officers quickly formed a perimeter, some were taking cover near the windows at the lobby, others crouched down behind the makeshift barricade with their weapons drawn. Ash saw a few technicals outside on the grass plain, they made spin-outs, kicking clods of dirt and grass in the air as they make tire marks in the mud. In the trunks were bandits, firing bullets up in the air with their assault rifles and hollering like wild Pokémon underneath a full moon.

"Bandits," Ash cried, "Randal was right after all!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried.

One of the bandits sprayed bullets at the entrance, the stray rounds peppered the back wall forcing the officers to keep down. Ash bolted back up the stairs in time as another spray of bullets struck the wall behind him. He charged up the stairs and back to the 2nd floor, he rushed passed survivors as they struggled to climb up the emergency stairwell. Ash made it to the living quarters where he grabbed his AR-15. He detached the suppressor and stuck it into his pocket, no need to have a silenced weapon at this moment.

Ash grabbed his backpack and fished out a few assault rifle and handgun clips, he pocketed them in their appropriate holsters. He loaded the AR-15 and cocked the bolt back, it was good to go. Ash stuffed his backpack under the bed and laid out the rest of his clips on top, just in case anyone needed to burrow some extra ammo.

As he ran back out into the hall, he noticed a police officer taking sniping position at a window. He had several boxes of .22 caliber long rifle bullets beside him, he took careful aim at the bandits and fired. The cop pulled the bolt back and fired again, then he reached for a box of ammo.

Before he knew it, a hostile round flied through the window and burrowed into the cop's right eye. It blew out the back of his head in a red spray, Ash smelled the blood as the cop slumped back and collapsed to the floor, the rifle still gripped in his right hand.

"Oh this is bad." Ash muttered.

There wasn't much Ash could do for the cop now, except pull him out of the way. He rushed up to his body and grabbed both wrists, the .22 rifle clattered to the floor as Ash pulled the cop far away from the window. His head continued to bleed, smearing blood on the floor. Once the body was set aside, Ash commandeered the .22 rifle. He stepped aside from the window and grabbed a nearby box of ammo. Ash paced himself as he pulled the bolt back and loaded fresh rounds into the rifle, then clicked it in place.

"Pikachu," said Ash, "You might wanna step to the side for a moment."

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

"No time to argue, buddy!"

The Mouse Pokémon jumped off Ash's shoulder and huddled against the wall, he got as low as possible and placed his tiny hands over his head. His body shook with fear, the noise of all the chaos threatened to lock up his mind.

Ash crouched underneath the window and peaked over it, he saw three technicals driving around the vast field of grass. The technicals drove in a random pattern, when they come near the bandits riding in the back fired their assault rifles and mounted machine guns blindly at the entrance before pulling back for another run. They all went in a circle-ovalish rotation, and it was quite an effective tactic.

There were more bandits taking cover near the small abandoned shops, all random. They were armed with scoped rifles, probably bolt-action or semi-auto. Ash could see any other snipers from the far end of conjoining stores, but he couldn't be sure. Once he started firing that rifle, they're going to try to pick him off like the cop earlier.

He raised the rifle and focused in on one technical as it came close to the Pokémon Center, these vehicles were their biggest advantage in their offense. Ash had two choices, either shoot the driver or the tires. Shooting the driver would get the vehicle to stop, but another bandit would take over. If he shoot the tires, the vehicles would be out of commission, and unless there were spare tires lying around, the Pokémon Center couldn't repair them for their own use.

_Pick what to shoot for, Ash_. He thought to himself.

Ash hovered the rifle's reticle over the driver, he didn't appear to have a bulletproof vest. That made things easier. Ash hold his breath and took aim at the center of the driver's chest, and fired.

The bullet punched a clean white hole around the windshield, creating a spiderweb effect. Blood splattered all over the back of it, Ash could see the driver slump over as the vehicle began to veer off. The passenger grabbed the wheel and steered the car away, Ash cocked the rifle and centered the reticle over the passenger as the technical curved towards the road. He fired, the bullet was a little off but it struck the passenger's neck. When he slumped over, the technical was out of control.

The passengers in the back saw what was going on and foolishly bailed out, they rolled on the grass as the technical hopped back on the road and drove into an abandoned store. The entire front of the store disintegrated upon impact, scattering broken glass and wooden boards everywhere. As the technical drove in, its machine gun caught the tip of the hole it created and snapped off the turret, dropping into the trunk like a broken toy.

"One down." Ash thought out loud.

A bullet zipped by and puffed into the window sill, Ash let out a yelp as he shot back. He quickly pulled the bolt back and reloaded the rifle, then clicked it back. Ash counted to 10 before sticking his head up again.

He hovered the reticle over the 2nd technical, Ash centered in his sights on the driver and held his breath. Half a second later, he pulled back the trigger.

The .22 caliber round blew through the windshield into the driver's jaw, whipping his head off to the right. He was still moving, it only took less than a second for Ash to cock the rifle and fire off a second round. This time the bullet blasted through the driver-side window, burrowing into the driver's neck. A blood vessel ripped open and showered the inside of the car with bright blood, like running water from a garden sprinkler. The technical veered right and collided into an abandoned car, its occupants scrambled out as the other Pokémon Center survivors pick them off with their guns.

One bandit got behind the technical's mounted machine gun and began firing away, Ash didn't waste no time focusing the rifle at the bandit's chest. This round went off target, it struck the bandit's hand and popped a hole through the machine gun. The bandit let out a cry as he shot his hand back, he gripped his wrist as he stumbled backward. He bumped into the side technical's trunk and flipped backwards, his feet shooting high as he disappeared on the other side of the truck.

"That's two," said Ash, "Just one more to go."

He dropped to the floor and waited for a second, on cue several assault rifle bullets flied through the window and burrowed themselves into the walls. He grabbed a nearby box of .22 ammo and reloaded the rifle, Ash looked up and saw Pikachu, still taking cover up against the wall.

When the shower of bullets ceased, Ash grabbed all the .22 ammo boxes and crept away from the window, keeping his head down. Pikachu saw him leave his position and followed behind him, he began crying out Ash's name in his Pokémon language but Ash ignored it. He knew Pikachu was scared, but there wasn't anything Ash could do about it.

Ash went back to the living quarters and sat all the boxes on his bed, then grabbed a couple before heading back out. Instead of going back to the window, he went down the hall to another window. This one was near the side of the Pokémon Center, yet still face the front. Once Ash walked into the room, he flipped off the lights and sat down near the window.

"I better make this one count." Ash thought out loud.

He sat the two ammo boxes aside and rested the rifle against the window sill, Ash peered through the scoop and rest his sights on the final technical as it charged towards the Pokémon Center. Ash wasted no time getting a bead through the windshield.

The driver caught the bullet in the forehead, right between the eyes. His brains blasted out the back windshield before flopping forward, resting his bloody head on the steering wheel. The car's horn blared loudly as it veered off to its left, slamming into a light post. The light post bent to a slight angle, but held firm. But the technical was totaled, its front end was smashed in and the airbags were deployed. The occupants scrambled out of the trunk and ran for cover, this time the machine gunner ran for dear safety. Ash watched, almost in amusement, as the bandits ran inside one of the abandoned stores.

One bandit poked his head out of the doorway, maybe to see if they were being followed. Ash centered the reticle over the bandit's head and fired. The bullet blew straight through the bandit's temple and went clean through his head, he was dead before he drop to the floor.

"There," Ash thought out loud, "That's all the technicals."

Ash spotted one of the bandit snipers aiming their rifles at him, he jumped away from the window as rounds flew through it. They embedded themselves into the room's walls and ceiling, causing no harm. Ash quickly got back to his feet and reloaded the rifle, then grabbed the two .22 ammo boxes before running back into the hall. Pikachu hastily caught up with him, staying close to him without getting stepped on.

When Ash returned to the living quarters, he pulled out all the remaining ammunition from the two .22 caliber ammo boxes and shoved them into a breast pocket of his tactical vest. He chucked the two boxes into the nearby trash bin before heading back downstairs. He found the entrance crowded with several police officers and other armed locals. Mark had his crossbow out and ready, his holster of crossbow bolts strapped firmly on his back with a few more attached to the crossbow's own holster. Ash noticed Emolga and his other Pokémon weren't with him, probably taking shelter with everyone else upstairs.

"Shoot them in the head, guys!" Tesla advised, "We don't want them coming back!"

The two bodies Ash saw earlier had their heads smashed in, and the look of their skin showed they had almost turned. He crouched and crept across the barrier, several more bullets flew over his head and struck the wall, but were nowhere close to hitting him. When Mark got behind cover, Ash joined up with him and got down to his knees.

"How many left?" Ash asked.

"I don't know," said Mark, "They have this place surrounded! I don't know who did it, but someone took out their technicals. Made a mess out of them too."

Ash raised his hand, "That was me."

Mark gave him a look, "Damn. Well, .22 rifles are accurate for amateurs. Nice shooting."

"Some of them might be coming back though, I didn't exactly nailed a few clean headshots."

"We can worry about them later, right now we need to take out their snipers. One of them managed to get a hold of an RPG."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "What's an RPG?"

"Rocket Propelled Grenade," Mark explained, "they're quite cheap to manufacture and purchase when society was still around. They were banned on Faraday Island for decades, I don't know how they managed to get a hold of one."

"Smuggled it in, perhaps?"

Mark shrugged, "Probably."

Ash peaked over the barricade and focused in on one of the bandits near the abandoned storefronts. He was taking cover behind one of the boarded up windows, Ash held his breath and steadied the rifle, then tapped the trigger.

The bandit took the bullet in the stomach and went down instantly, Ash cocked the rifle and focused on him again. One of his comrades popped out and tried to pull him out of harm's way, Ash dropped him with another tap of the trigger, "I'm getting good at this." he said, showing a guilty smile.

Mark laughed, "I guess you have no innocence left."

**. . .**

With the guns ringing loud in the distance, Merle yearned for the state of human blood. He stepped out of the fire station, amazingly suited up in his firefighting coat and pants. There was no need for the gloves, mask, and oxygen tank. The fire ax was good enough. He clutched the wooden handle tight in his hands as he began the walk towards the sounds of war, steadying the pace of his stiffened muscles so he doesn't trip.

His fellow Undead brethren took noticed of Merle's march, their red eyes laid focused to his fire ax. To most zombies, it meant nothing. But to a few, who were highly educated in their former lives, several nerves rippled with synapses as the idea of concepts came back. They looked around, searching for something. One zombie found a wooden baseball bat inside of a nearby building, another found a wooden board. They picked them up and examined them carefully, then head towards the source of all the noise.

Other zombies found sledgehammers, crowbars, hunting knives, one Undead police officers rediscovered his own baton and whipped it out. They all marched down the road and herded together, with Merle leading the way. Every zombie the horde comes across, joined them in their eternal walk. Slowly the numbers raised from 20, to 50, eventually getting to a hundred. Their ghastly moans attracted more Undead, further adding to the bandwagon of dead.

Several Undead Pokémon came crawling out of the crooks and crannies of abandoned buildings upon hearing the hordes, the bi-pedal ones limped and walked. Those who were quadruped – like the Undead Pikachus – scurried along, gnashing their teeth and making their own instinctual grunts. For Undead humans and Pokémon who were either paralyzed by the waist down or had their legs mangled, they crawled with their arms, moving just as fast as their walking counterparts.

The numbers swell to a point where the count reached 500, several groups broke off from the main horde and went in different directions, still finding their way towards the source of chaos. These smaller hordes gathered Undead as they went, eventually increasing their size for an effective assault.

The subtropical jet stream suddenly shifted over the island, picking up the smell of living sweat and blood from the raging battle. The odors were carried to the hordes, all they needed was one good whiff. It urged them on, they began walking slightly faster as their rigor mortis limbs can allow.

Next the winds blew outside of Carson and into the nearby forest. A group of Undead Pikachus were on the prowl, upon sensing the smell of a potential next meal they started off immediately towards the source. Other Undead took notice, and followed them, starting the chain reaction again.

Just 40 kilometers away from Carson, the jet stream blew into Faraday City. The Undead roaming around the suburbs and fields around the metropolis got the message and started for the direction of Carson, forming hordes along the way. Eventually these hordes would fuse with one another, creating an army of Undead that might range an estimate of a thousand walking dead.

**. . .**

Ash ducked as the bandits fired an entire clip at the barricade, the cops all dove for cover as the wave of bullets peppered the wall behind them. The bandits war cries became more immense and intimidating, probably angry at the lost of their technicals. Now they were charging, some were dropped by the snipers on the roof and windows of the Pokémon Center, but a few managed to slip by and got as close as the main entrance.

One bandit took cover by the main entrance, instead of stepping out to fire he stuck out his gun and fired it in an awkward angle. All Ash saw was a pair of hands and a gun, the bandit held down the trigger as he blindly fired into the building, the rounds nowhere coming close to their intended targets. Ash held up the .22 rifle, the bandit's gun and hands engulfed the scope. The Pokémon trainer had no problem focusing the reticle on the wrist, he took a deep breath and let loose a round.

The bullet struck directly where he aimed, it blown through the bandit's wrist in a clean shot. He dropped the gun and screamed, exposing his head as he crouched. Mark aimed the crossbow and fired a bolt, it punctured the bandit's temple and lodged itself in his skull. It shut the bandit up as he dropped to the ground as dead weight.

"There's more of 'em where that came from." Mark blurted.

A bandit strolled into view near the abandoned stores. Ash looked through his scope, just in time to see the bandit hold up an RPG. It was an ugly weapon, worse than Team Rocket's own guns. If it can destroy the main entrance with a single blast then it would destroy the barricade, killing everybody in the room in the process.

Ash held his breath and squeezed off as shot. The gun jerked back as the bullet escaped the barrel, when he refocused the rifle he saw the bullet clipped the RPG and lodged itself into the bandit's chest. The bandit pressed a hand against the wound as he swung his RPG wildly, firing his weapon as he drop to the ground. The rocket flew through the air like fireworks, it spiraled twice in its tragedy before centering straight at the entrance.

_You got to me kidding me! _Ash thought as his blood went cold.

"Mark," he cried, "Get down!"

Mark quickly dive-bombed to the floor, just before Ash could take cover the rocket flew through the main entrance and crashed into the nearby lobby. The explosion knocked Ash off his feet and throw him against the back wall, he flopped to the floor in a hard thud as the world blurred around him.

"Ahh!" he croaked as he rubbed his forehead, that was more powerful than he expected. The blast deafened his ears and disoriented his vision, he held up his hand and stared at it. He could barely make out its features.

He got onto his knees and try to shake the cobwebs out of his head, when his vision cleared Ash looked up he saw a large hole through the wall. He peered through it and saw the lobby was destroyed, furniture was smashed and burned, glass and dust covered the floor, and the HDTV laid on the floor split in two.

Ash looked around for the .22 rifle, he founded it laying up against a dead body of another cop. He started crawling for it. More bullets flew overhead, but Ash barely noticed. He could barely tell from dream to reality, for a moment Ash wondered what he was doing. With his head throbbing with pain and his muscles aching, Ash reached out and laid a hand on the rifle.

The body stirred and sat up, and stared down at Ash with red eyes.

The still-warm zombie growled and tackled Ash, snapping him out of his stupor. Ash grabbed the zombie by the neck and pushed him back with all his might. The Undead gnashed his teeth, hissing out crazed howls like a creature of the night. Its sheer power pinned Ash to the floor, this time he screamed as he fought the Undead back. It edged closer and opened its jaw.

_THUNK!_

The Undead's head jerked forward and froze, red blood trailed down from the back of its head as the zombie released his grip. Ash pushed the corpse aside and saw Natas standing over him, holding a crowbar with a bloodied claw, "Are you okay?" he asked, extending a hand.

"Yeah," said Ash, "I'm fine!"

Natas picked up the .22 rifle and handed it back to Ash, "Head to the 3rd floor and take out those snipers, there ain't many bandits left now!"

Ash's thoughts instantly shifted towards Mark, Tesla, and his Pikachu, they were right here a moment ago, "Where's-"

"Now, Ash!" Natas interrupted, "Worry about them later, we don't have much time!"

Ash sheepishly nodded and ran towards the stairwell, he looked back and saw Natas helping Mark off the floor. The late teenager shook his hand and picked his crossbow back up, and returned shooting. But neither his Pikachu and Tesla were anywhere in sight, he couldn't even see any yellow puffs of fur.

_Worry about them later, Ash_. He thought.

He felt his heart dissolved into his stomach as he ran up the stairs, Ash accidentally fumbled among the steps but caught the safety rail in time. He pulled himself back up and continued running until he got to the third floor, "Take out the snipers," Ash said to himself, "Worry about them later."

Ash checked the rooms with front-facing windows, he managed to find a perfect spot near the side of the building. The room looked like a regular doctor's office, a place used for normal checkups. Ash pried open the window, just enough room for his gun yet not to wide where the bandits could see him. He sat down next to the window and pressed his back against the wall, Ash opened a breast pocket and pulled out a few .22 rounds. His hands trembled as he reloaded the bolt-action rifle, Ash fitted rounds into the reservoir and chambered a round.

He stood the rifle on its butt and took a deep breath, Ash's heart raced uncontrollably as he listened to automatic gunfire going off from both sides. More explosions rocked the building, followed up by the spray of an assault rifle. It was so hard to keep calm that Ash almost locked up in fright. He almost thought Pikachu might be dead. He didn't took out the bandit in time, and now several defenders were dead.

And more people and Pokémon, good people and Pokémon, would die if he did nothing. There was not a moment to lose.

Ash settled his .22 rifle up at the sill of the window and got into position, "Take them out." he told himself.

The first sniper he found was sitting on the roof of an abandoned store, taking cover behind an air conditioning unit. The sniper's head was just sticking out, just barely out of cover as he seemed to be reloading his gun. Ash held his breath and pulled the trigger back with a tap of his finger, the top of the sniper's head exploded in red gunk. He simply flopped sideways and that was the end of him.

Ash cocked the rifle and hovered the scope around his next target, another sniper on yet another roof. This time the sniper had stepped out of cover, facing him. He was just about to raise his rifle until Ash put a round through his heart. The bandit was knocked back and dropped to the ground, his arms and legs spread out as his rifle clattered aside.

Next target, this one was sitting near the ground behind a mailbox. Ash got a bead to blow through the mailbox and hit the bandit in the back, the bullet's inertia shoved the bandit forward and he landed face down on the sidewalk.

An enemy sniper's bullet blast through the window above Ash, the glass disintegrated in a thousand shards. Ash ignored the fragments and looked towards the direction of the shot, sure enough there was a bandit with a sniper rifle, laying on his belly on top of another roof. Ash blew the bandit's brains out upon seeing him, the bandit's head dropped as his back was coated in red blood.

Another sniper's bullet by, striking the outside wall with a soft thunk. Ash followed his ear from the sniper's round and spotted the bandit, taking cover near a parked car with a sniper rifle trained at him. Ash fired his final round, it struck the bandit in the eye and blew out the back of his head in a red mushy splatter. He flopped onto the road and formed a puddle of red blood.

Ash stepped away from the window and brushed the glass fragments off of him, then reloaded his .22. He couldn't believe how accurate the .22 rifle was, it put a bullet wherever he aimed it, or near where he was aiming. Ash made a mental note to find more .22 ammunition the next time he goes foraging . . . or was it looting? Had to be looting.

When the rifle was fully loaded, Ash was just about to get back into position when he heard the familiar roar of another rocket. He peaked out and saw it heading straight at him. Ash instinctively ran out for the door. The rocket exploded, causing Ash to jump straight into the hall. He shielded his head with a hand as he felt the heat from the initial fire blow over him, brown dust was kicked up, obscuring Ash's vision.

He quickly got back to his feet and turned back towards the room, what was left of a room. The rocket had taken out a portion of the wall, what used to be a window was now a massive hole. Everything in the room was burned and covered with fine dust. Several tiles had cracked and shattered, a couple of black wires dangle from the remains of the ceiling. Swaying among the breeze as their ends sparked with white electricity.

Ash chuckled from the sight of the destruction, "That was a close one," he said to himself, "That was _really _close."

The smell of ozone came to his nose, and Ash remembered the dangers of electricity, "Crap," he said to himself, "I gotta turn off the power!"

As he ran back downstairs, an officer ran up it. His eyes were locked open, he ignored Ash as he brushed past him. When Ash got back down to the main floor, he went prone and did a mad crawl across the barricade. Used brass cartridge clatter on the floor around him as his allies fired their guns. Mark was still there, still firing his crossbow. But Natas was nowhere to be found, and still no sign of his Pikachu or Tesla. Ash almost panicked, but he managed to suppress the fear.

Once he crawled past the busted wall, he quickly got back up and searched for the circuit breaker. It was right there, remarkably untouched by the death and destruction. Ash yanked the door open and did a quick scan of the breakers. Yes, there it was, the red breaker that connects the buildings power to the generators down in the basement. Ash grabbed the breaker and flipped it down.

**. . .**

On the 4th floor, Ash's Pikachu stirred. His head ached like he had been through a washing machine. Pikachu felt the surface he laid on, it was metallic and cold. Was it an operating table? When Pikachu opened his eyes, a bright beam of light hovered over his face, blackening the world around it. Pikachu squint and tried to see through the beam, but a thumb and a finger held one of his eyes open.

"Talk to me, Pikachu," said Professor Oak's voice, "Are you alright?"

The light clicked off, Pikachu saw Professor Oak pocketed the flashlight. The old human then picked up the Mouse Pokémon's wrist and checked his pulse, "You alright?"

"Pika Pika P?" Pikachu muttered. _Where's Ash?_

The ceiling lights above them shut off without warning, the only light available seem to come from a window. Several children screamed, their parents panicked. The other humans sounded worried as the Pokémon panicked. Gunshots sounded outside, but it didn't sound muffled. A window must be open or the Pokémon Center's insulation was that bad.

Pikachu glanced to the side and saw several of his own kind, their eyes were watery, dripping fresh tears in fear that they might lose him. To Ash's Pikachu, they were the least of his concerns. His thoughts shifted towards his trainer, what happened to him?

"Pika Pika P?" he asked one of the Pokémon Center Pikachus. _Where's Ash?_

"Pikachu," said the closest Pikachu, "Pika Pika Pika, Pika Pikachu." _He's downstairs. But don't go, it's too dangerous._

"We lost power," cried Brock, "Something must have happened to the generator!"

"What do we do!?" cried Misty.

"Keep it together," Tesla's voice boomed, "This ain't going to end overnight, we have a lot of options to consider!"

"_What _options!?"

Professor Oak got up and approach the fray, "Okay guys, just calm down! Pikachu's alright! We're doing what we can here!"

"Where's Ash!?" cried Delia.

"I don't know."

"What do you _mean _you don't know!?"

As Oak and Mrs. Ketchum argue at each other, the Pokémon Center Pikachu looked at Ash's own Pikachu with sorry eyes, "Pika Pika." _Stay here._

Ash's Pikachu growled, he felt his cheeks heat up from the sudden anger, "Pika Pika Pika!" _He's my trainer!_

"Pika Pika P Pika!" _There's nothing but death down there!_

Ash's Pikachu got up on his hind legs and glared at the Pokémon Center Pikachu, pointing a finger at him, "Pika Pika Pika Pika Pikachu!" _And it'll come up here if we do nothing!_

The Pokémon Center Pikachu shivered from his reaction, he was now totally scared, "Pika Pika, ka Pika Pika!" _Let the, h- humans handle it!_

"Pikachu!?" _Which humans?_

Tesla hopped on the metal table and glanced at him, "These Pikachus are bred for comfort, not for battle. No point in arguing with them."

Pikachu glared at the Pokémon Center Pikachus a second time, they all huddled into a tight ball shivering uncontrollably. He then turned his attention back to Tesla and asked, "Pikachu?" _What happened?_

"An RPG went by and blew up the lobby," the old Pikachu explained, "Natas brought us up here, he managed to save Ash in a nick of time when one of our dead tried to grapple with him."

Pikachu felt his heart twist, he must be in trouble. No, no, no, no, he can't live without him. Pikachu had put his life and faith into Ash. Of all the adventures they had, from all the problems they solved, and from all the battles they had – it cannot, _not_, end like this! These Pikachus don't get it, they never had a trainer! They were never fed, sheltered, even protected by a single caretaker. All they know was to provide love, not take it in and feel its warmth. Even in a regular Pokémon battle, they lack confidence to fight. All they do was sugar-coat stress, not face it directly. No mere words, either human or Pokémon, would calm his nerves by telling him Ash was alright.

"Pika Pika Pikachu." Pikachu finally say. _Let's go find him then._

Tesla let out a grin, "Move fast, and be ready to fry something."

Ash's Pikachu and Tesla jumped off the table and bolted out of the room, they moved so fast that the humans didn't notice, "Pikachu!" cried one of the Pokémon Center Pikachus. _Come back!_

"Pika!" Ash's Pikachu stubbornly says. _No!_

Tesla let out a laugh, "Now you know how I feel about my family members, they're hard to put up with!"

Pikachu raised an eyebrow, "Pika Pika?" _They're your relatives?_

"F*ck no, they aren't related to me by one drop of blood!"

**. . .**

Ash ducked as another wave of bullets sprayed into the Pokémon Center, the wall behind them looked more like Swiss cheese than a wall. The flat plain of grass outside was littered with bodies of the bandits. Some laid in a pool of their own blood. Others were ran over by the technicals earlier. Several of them had crossbow bolts sticking out of them, thanks to Mark's handiwork. Ash was quietly impressed at his skills.

But the Pokémon Center was in no better shape, several bodies of police officers and other defenders were killed. Their bodies laid up against the walls, clearing the way for people to crawl through. The only people left defending the entrance was Mark, Wally, Ash, and a couple more police officers.

"Will they ever ran out of ammunition!?" Ash asked Mark.

Mark just shrugged, "I have no idea."

Once their was a pause in gunfire, Ash raised the .22. He saw who was firing their assault rifles into the building, the bandit was taking cover behind a technical. He was struggling with his gun, Ash realized it had jammed. Looks like the abuse caught up with the gun.

Just before Ash could put him down, an Undead lazily stepped out behind the bandit. Ironically it was the driver of the technical Ash had killed earlier, he must had turned. The bandit's former comrade wasted no time dropping itself on top of him a while he was distracted, biting straight into his neck. The bandit screamed as he swung his arms at the zombie like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum. Blood spewed everywhere as the zombie feasted, it may be its last meal.

Ash watched the scene as it unfolds. Maybe he should put the bandit out of his misery, since he was going to turn moments after the Undead was done with him. Ash hovered his finger over the trigger, playing around with the thought. He watched as the zombie plunged his hand into his victim's stomach and pulled out his intestines, then ate it like it was a fried bird leg. The bandit limped and passed out. The Undead didn't notice, a meal not kicking and screaming had the same taste as one that does.

Ash scooted aside and pulled the bolt back, "I think Mr. Trigger Happy isn't our problem anymore." he said as he reloaded the rifle.

Mark peaked out of cover and noticed the grizzly feast, "No matter how much they eat, they're not getting any prettier."

"I'll never get used to seeing that."

"Me neither, but at least we don't have to clean up _all _of the mess."

A bullet zipped by, nearly striking Mark. He pulled back to cover a millisecond later, "70 meters, near the 2nd light post. On the roof."

Ash chambered a round, held up the gun, and spot the sniper.

_POP!_

The sniper flopped backwards and disappeared behind some cover, he didn't come back up after a few seconds.

"Got him." Ash confirmed.

Mark pressed his back to the wall and slid to the floor, "There isn't much gunfire now," said Mark, "Did you take out the snipers?"

"Most of them," said Ash, "Unless they're being replaced."

"I bet they're not being replaced."

"Pika P!" squealed a Mouse Pokémon.

Ash turned towards the stairwell and saw his Pikachu running towards him, his eyes filling with tears of joy. The Mouse Pokémon leaped up on Ash's lap and began licking his face, the Pokémon trainer couldn't help but give Pikachu a hug, "Pikachu," Ash cried, "You're okay!"

"_Pikachu!_" Pikachu sang.

"Natas brought him up and had Professor Oak looked at him," said Tesla as he crawled up, "We sneaked out as he was arguing with your mom, I don't think she's happy with him."

"Why?" Ash asked.

Tesla shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't stick around to find out."

"You guys have any ammunition on you?" Wally asked as he reloaded his shotgun.

"12 gauge?" Ash asked.

"Yeah."

Ash opened up a pocket and pulled out a few shells, then tossed them to Wally. The cop caught them and reloaded his shotgun, "How much ammo you have left?"

"I have 8 bullets left," said Ash, "For my .22."

"I have more crossbow bolts upstairs," said Mark, "And more ammunition for my guns."

One of the bodies pushed against the wall began to stir, it crawled out of the pile and glared with red eyes. Ash pulled out his pistol and shot the zombie in the skull, the bullet went straight between its eyes and it dropped.

"Are we winning this?" Tesla asked.

"I don't know," said Mark, "Can you go on the roof and take a look?"

"I'll do it," said Ash, "I need to get more ammunition anyway."

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

Pikachu hopped up on Ash's shoulder, Ash rushed across the main entrance barricade and up the emergency stairwell. He kept the .22 rifle clutched tight in one hand and the other grazing the safety rail. He didn't wanna stumble, not with Pikachu on his shoulder. But how was his other Pokémon doing? How was his mom doing?

He head up to the 4th floor and saw it was crowded with people, survivors sat against the walls as others strut about. When Ash checked the rooms, he saw many children's eyes were filled with terror as their parents comfort them, the Pokémon simply sat by. Completely scared as well. The Chanseys and Audinos huddled around Nurse Joy. She sat against the corner of a room hugging her legs, rocking back and forth murmuring unintelligible words under her breath.

After opening up several doors, Ash found his mom and several of his friends. Delia was arguing at Professor Oak at something, but when Ash stepped through she stopped and turned towards him, "Ash," she cried, Delia rushed up to her and gave her son a hug, "My baby, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, mom."

Delia stepped back and saw the dust on him, "You're covered in dust, and your head is bleeding! What happened!?"

Ash placed his hand on his temple and checked it, his palm was coated in his own blood, "I was grazed by some shrapnel, someone launched an RPG into the lobby and blew out a wall."

Delia was about to throw a fit, until Professor Oak stepped in, "Delia, he's alright!"

"I can see that!" Delia insisted, she turned back to Ash, "The gunshots are winding down, is it going to be over soon?"

"The bandits are running out of ammo," said Ash, "We'll might push them back, but I gotta-"

Ash stopped short when he noticed something out the window, at the end of the grassy rectangle shadowy figures appeared. He rushed over to the window and peered out, cupping his hands to get a better view.

"What's going on, Ash?" Brock asked.

Ash pulled the window wide open and stuck his .22 rifle out, then looked through the scope. He saw a few Undead limping towards the Pokémon Center. Within seconds, more Undead appeared. Ash's jaw dropped when he saw a horde slumber down the street.

The Undead were packed shoulder to shoulder. Their bodies were horribly deteriorated, their skin was completely gray. Old bites or other wounds showed sickly greenish black flesh. Some bones stuck out of them like jagged nubs of tree limbs, others had some internal organs exposed. Their sulking gaits wobbled on their decomposing feet, the sounds of their moans combined to form an orchestra of Undeath. With the open window, Ash couldn't believe how loud it was.

"That's what I figured." he muttered as he stepped back from the window.

"What?" Delia asked.

She looked out the window, her eyes widened and stepped away. Ash's friends huddled around and got a look for themselves, Misty let out a loud gasp and stumbled back. She tripped and almost collapsed to the floor when Professor Oak caught her in time, he then helped her up and looked out the window for himself.

"Must be thousands." he commented.

"They must had heard all the racket the bandits were causing!" Iris cried.

"Axew!" her Tusk Pokémon cried.

"To the roof!" Ash cried.

Ash bolted from the room and rushed down the hall, his mom and friends quickly followed behind. They made their way past the survivors and up on the roof. Natas was there, standing still as a statue as he watched over the roof.

"And here they come." he muttered, still transfixed at the growing sea of the Undead horde.

Ash looked towards the sides of the Pokémon Center. Every street told the same story, the Undead were advancing from all around. They were literally squeezing them in. Ash checked to see if there was a possible escape route. There wasn't. A car might drive through that horde, but he wasn't in the mood for serious stunts. He felt his skin run paled as he realized they were boxed in, the Pokémon Center was trapped.

"We're surrounded!" cried Delia.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried.

Brock approached the edge and looked out towards the setting sun, the Undead moaned and snarled. Their growling hunger filling everybody's ears to the point that they were mere background noise, "So this is it," he said, tapping his fingers against the edge, "We're screwed! We're going to be eaten alive, then turn! We are _screwed_!"

Axew broke down in tears, Iris cuddled her Pokémon in her arms and tried to comfort him. Pikachu also whimpered, but not as loud. Ash stared out towards the Undead horde, they limped and shuttle across the grass, thousands of red eyes seem to glow brighter as the sun started dipping into the horizon. Ah, the sun. It had risen and fallen countless times during his journey, always signaling when to rest when the day was out, and when to wake when the a new day had begun. It still continued to rise and fall, even after the apocalypse. Society was long gone, but the world will always be here.

_This couldn't be the end_, Ash thought, _Not like this . . . _

"This isn't over yet." Ash thought out loud.

He turned to face his friends, they all gave him his attention, "It's not over, till it's over. We're going to drive them back, I know we can!"

"How?" Cilan asked.

Ash winked, "Simple."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	41. Ch 41: The Walking Dead

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

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_Chapter XLI_

_The Walking Dead_

They were so packed shoulder to shoulder that a stuntman could walk over them, the dead moaned and growl their hunger cries, moving as one unit across the open grass plain in walking speed. The remaining bandits saw the horde as they approach, they turn their attention away from the Pokémon center and began firing their remaining ammunition at the Undead. They knew where to aim, many drop to the ground with multiple headshots, yet the horde was to vast to thin their numbers. They succeeded in riling up the Undead, their cries of agony grew ever louder into a zombie riot.

Seeing their plight, the bandits panicked. Those with assault rifles went fully-auto, sending most of their rounds into the torso and limbs of the horde. Some bandits fled to the roof and commandeered the sniper rifles from their dead comrades, they then chuck the bodies over the roofs and barricaded the stairwells. Once they secured the roofs, they took up position at the edge and line and calibrate their scopes.

Once dialed in, the snipers began firing indiscriminately. With every squeeze of the trigger, a bullet found its mark through a zombie's skull. The combined assault and support tactics of the bandits slowed down the horde of Undeath. But it wouldn't last, as their ammunition began to run out.

The distraction buys the Pokémon Center time to prepare. Survivors quickly came down and fetched wooden boards from the basement, they quickly saw them in length and nailed them over the holes at the lobby. None of the boards were long enough to cover the span of the massive hole at the entrance, so the survivors began finding anything that was heavy and carry them to the hole. The vending machines and couches – or what was left of them – were moved into position at the entrance. The crude barricade barely covered the hole to shoulder length, now all it needs were armed defenders with the nerve to fight the Undead back.

Several survivors with firearms experience grab every rifle with a sniper scope and took up arms at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floor windows. They grabbed all the ammunition they need and sat them nearby, there was an estimate of 200 .22 rounds per sniper and plenty more ammo stockpiled in the makeshift armory. Even if the survivors had excellent accuracy, there wouldn't be enough bullets to kill all the Undead.

Remaining Carson police officers came down to assist, they picked up whatever gun they could find and got into position at the main entrance. They watched as the Undead advanced on the bandits. Those on the ground were cornered and devoured, the bandits who managed to slip away made it to the roofs of the stores. They had a chance to hop over the rooftops and make an escape, but it hadn't occurred to them. The bandits were too focused on the Undead that any thought of escape may be null to them.

The horde swarmed the bandits and fresh bodies like a killer T-Cell eating bacteria, the zombies closest to them got themselves a meal. As they tear into still warm bodies, the Undead behind them push against them with arms stretched out and jaws locked open, trying their best to get a piece of meat off of the bodies. The bandits' screams made the meal more appetizing, the Undead shreds into them like a Pokémon with huge claws and teeth, pulling out limbs and organs and chomping on them like wild mutts.

As the bandits' bodies kept a part of the horde occupied, the live bandits continue to fire at them on the roofs, catching the attention of the other part. They crowd below the stores and reach up at their potential prey, only to catch a bullet in the forehead. But that didn't stop the others, risking a 2nd death just to feed on fresh human meat.

They squeezed each other so tight that some tripped an fell, their own comrades climb over them and also lost their footing. A human corpse pile up started to form, the bandits watched in sheer shock as the Undead unintentionally formed a pile of bodies and climb over them like a ladder. The Undead reached the roof without difficulty, though a few wound up getting knocked back down by the butts of the bandit's rifles. Dead or Undead, the rotting cadavers proved to be an effective staircase. The hordes swarm the roofs of the storefronts, sending the remaining bandits scampering away. A few managed to escape and run off into the sunset, but most were either cornered and eaten alive or shoot themselves in the head.

One bandit stuck around the longest, one of those survivalist individuals with an iron will and a ripped 6-pack and skin tan. He had gotten a hold of all the ammunition and guns he could find from the bodies of his former group members and fought off the Undead for an hour straight, taking out a swarm of zombies with concentrated fire. When he ran out of ammunition, he switched to a spiked bat and smash zombie skulls as they poke over the roof's edge. The Undead human ladders were quickly built and the zombies swarmed his position, the survivalist simply bailed out and ran off like the rest of his comrades, heading to the unknown.

**. . .**

"The Walkers done them bandits in," said Mark as he strapped a holster full of fresh crossbow bolts to his back, "And here they come."

Wally screwed a suppressor on his pistol and checked the ammo, "If you have a suppressor, use it. The less noise, the better."

Ash whipped out his suppressor and screwed it back on his AR-15, "How much time do we have before the first wave's in arm's reach?"

"About 2 minutes." said Wally.

"What do we do!?" Misty cried.

"Get a gun and hold them back," Ash explained, "if we kill enough of them we'll form a barrier that would keep them back."

"I hope we have enough ammunition for this," said Mark, "This is going to be a tough one."

Ash leaped over the inner barricade and peaked out the outside one, he saw a thousand red eyes stare at him with arms stretched out. The Undead were more rotten this time, despite the cold nights. Most of them were covered with dried blood, it had turned black to form a dried putrid sheath that coated the zombies, the black blood made them stand out more from the background.

One zombie's head explode, then a 2nd. Like a contagious disease, the front of the Undead horde started puffing out small black mist like fireworks made in a slaughter house. Several Undead dropped from each bang with half a skull or a bullet through the forehead, Ash couldn't believe his eyes as the horde's advance slowed dramatically. The snipers on the roofs were doing a fine job, this might turn into a win yet.

**. . .**

Natas couldn't believe his eyes either, the zombie horde was being shredding like an onion by the snipers. So it was a good idea to bring half the ammunition from the Carson Police Station after all. He crouched down with the other sniper's with him, aiming his .22 rifle near the middle of the horde and shot a walking corpse at random. Blood engulfed the scope as the zombie shot back, he couldn't tell what it looked like, not that it mattered. It probably was once a guy who worked in a cubicle or a math teacher. About a month ago, telling these people that they would soon become flesh-eating monsters would make them think you're crazy.

From what Crawford did, and Ash's Pikachu's psychotic moment, _everyone _was crazy now. A part of their moral compass must be extinguished, snuffed out, so they can survive this outbreak. The Ash fellow had killed a few bandits, this time without much regret. That doesn't sound like the boy who had a pure heart, Ho-Oh would be horrified if he had seen this for himself.

There was so much stuff to report to his Boss, assuming he could live long enough to tell him. The Undead might march their way up those stairwells and eat like a bunch of college kids at a buffet. There would be no time to even get a few sentences through.

_What would the Boss do if I'm dead? _Natas asked himself.

No, that won't happen. Luke Natas, a member of the Team Rocket elite, would not die on the roof of a f*cking Pokémon Center surrounded by the walking dead. Not going to happen. He had some rope tucked away on the roof somewhere, if things get chaotic he could tie that rope to something solid and climb down the back of the Pokémon Center's wall, away from the Undead horde's ghastly claws.

Though in leaving he would also leave Ash, whom the Boss instructed him sternly to protect him...

_Ketchum_. Natas thought as he squeeze off another round.

A big bloat of a zombie stumbled backwards as his head imploded, black blood sprayed over the zombies around him as he toppled over. The Undead didn't notice, they just kept right on walking towards the Pokémon Center.

_Hmm_, Natas thought as he looked closely at the horde, _Their eyes seem to shine brighter in the dark._

**. . .**

Gunshots been ranging out for a few hours now, Snivy sat in the small room as Oshawott cried in Scraggy's arms. Pignite sat at the far wall, staring out into space. Pansage sat next to him, hunched over and snoring. The Grass Snake Pokémon shook her head, how does that monkey sleep through a situation like this? Snivy stared at the electric-lantern in the room, with the power off it was the only thing putting out enough light to see. The room was dark and eerie, and outside wasn't any different.

Among all the things she learned at Tesla's dead trainer's farm, was what it felt like to get drunk. Before the apocalypse, putting up with these immature Pokémon she called friends was stressing enough. Ever since day one, they complained and whine and cry like the damn children who huddle with their mommies for comfort. When Tesla offered everyone that wine bottle, why would she not refuse?

Emptying half that bottle into her stomach made the world feel better. Though it isn't actually any better, but it made it manageable. Snivy got a moment to feel what it was like to be goofy, though it was nowhere by comparison to her Pokémon friends personalities. The hangover the next morning was bad, her tongue tasted so bitter, that it alone would make her throw up. As the throbbing headache pound at her skull, Snivy had the feeling of having another drink.

The rate of gunfire had picked up now, Oshawott, Tepig, and Pignite shivered in fear. If they started urinating on the floor, Snivy isn't going to be happy. Then again, she didn't wanna care. If she had some of the happy juice in her system, she wouldn't have a care in the world. The world was dead, the dead walk the earth, society was over, and Pokémon battling was more deader than the dead. Being with Ash meant nothing now, no reason why she should be with him. If there wasn't any zombies walking the world, she would had left Ash a long time ago. Just like her previous trainer.

Snivy licked her lips in remembering the wine she drank, bitter at first – sweet the next. Tesla had some common ground with her, he was the most powerful Pokémon of his kind and type to ever battle in an arena – yet he hated it so much, it would take a mountain of peanut butter just to persuade him to fight a small one. Snivy rolled her eyes, what was the old coot's thing about peanut butter anyway?

Maybe . . . maybe it was the same how Snivy sucked down all that wine. It tasted good, yes, it made her belly tickle. But it also ached in the morning, Tesla called it a hangover, but it was nowhere comparable to the burden of the Undead that was trying to eat her for lunch. It was all worth another drink. Just another. This time, an entire bottle would do it.

Snivy stood up and glanced up at the ceiling. Yes, the world was pretty much gone, might as well spend her remaining days making the best of it. The Grass Snake Pokémon knew there was wine stored somewhere, along with some other types of alcohol. She was willing to try some other kinds of alcohol, maybe a spoonful of each to see which of her taste buds prefer. Snivy cracked a smile, she was tired of following Ash's orders, just plain tired of it. In what way does getting drunk not be the best defiance to him?

"Snivy Snivy Sniv," she told her friends, "Snivy Sni." _I'm going to go get something, be right back._

"Osh." Oshawott muttered. _Kay._

Snivy stared at the Sea Otter Pokémon as he huddled with Scraggy, just about ready to shed a waterfall of tears, _Hmm_, she thought, _maybe I should bring some back for them too_.

**. . .**

Scared out of his skin, Max ran down the stairwell as fast as his legs could take him. Armed with only a flashlight, he walked down the darkened emergency stairwell with the beam of light leading the way. Ever since the bandits showed up, he was separated from May. Max tried to look around for his sister, but he couldn't find her in the swarm of people. It was like the number of survivors had doubled in an instant with everyone crammed into the top floors.

Now he wondered if he could escape from the Pokémon center. He saw the zombie horde, saw how big it was. Max knew they would march right in and eat everyone, he had to get out. He just had to . . . but what about May? What about his sister? He wasn't so concerned about her though, she could take care of himself. Max was old enough to take care of himself too, he wasn't going to let grown-ups boss him around.

Just when he got to the bottom of the stairwell, Max spotted the emergency exit. Just as he was about to yank the door open, a zombie pressed its rotten face against the small glass window and growled at him. Max jumped back, startled by the glowing red eyes. He felt a scream surge up his throat, but he swallowed it back. Okay, time for Plan B.

He ran back up the stairs and rushed into the 1st floor and saw the chaos. The smell of gunpowder hits him hard, Max coughed as he plowed his way into the Men's restroom. He checked the stall farthest to the wall, unoccupied, good. No Undead would expect him to be in here. Max rushed in and jumped on the toilet, pulling up his legs so no one could see them. He turned off his flashlight, the bathroom blackened to cave darkness. Max wasn't sure how long he could be here, he huddled on the toilet and listened to the gunshots. And waited.

**. . .**

Ash and his friends took up arms, as scared as they were they had the same look on their face. He knew that look well, they were determined to survive. Ash figured that if they managed to fight the horde back, they could move out to greener pastures the next morning. The Pokémon Center just doesn't feel safe anymore, it was all cramped and tempers were short. With the main entrance compromise, staying here was no longer an option. Ash wanted to thank Tesla for sharing the farm with his friends, he owed him more than his life.

The old Pikachu stood on the barricade with his suppressed submachine gun drawn, he calmly took pot-shots at the Undead with the other defenders as the dead stepped closer. The snipers manning the roof and windows were doing a fine job, but it wasn't enough. The Undead continue to advance, despite dozens of them being killed by the Pokémon Center's defenses. When they were just 10 meters away, Ash's friends rushed up to the outer barricade and stuck their weapons through the gaps. They took careful aim, holding their breaths and steadying their sights. They fired at will, knocking down the walking corpses with each headshot. It slowed the horde's advance even more, Ash felt his hopes started to rise.

Professor Oak and Delia had gotten pistols, though they held their ground behind the inner barricade. They brought down some electric and kerosine lanterns and set them up, it lit up the hallway and entrance just enough for them to see. They just watched the others do the grizzly work in killing off the ghouls, Ash noticed his mom wasn't so sturdy. She stepped back and looked away, unable to watch anymore gore.

"This is just too much!" she cried.

Ash jumped when he heard something crashed in the back, the sound of several boxes and wooden planks breaking apart was quite distinct. He followed the trail of the sound and walked into a backroom, Ash gulped from what he saw.

A window's shudders breached, the metal pealed inward as a zombie poke through. Wooden planks and shattered glass littered the floor, the trapped Undead thrashed a free arm and gnashed viciously. Pikachu stood his ground, though his fur shivered from the sight of the zombie trying to make its way through.

"Pikachu," said Ash, "Use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu gave Ash a disbelief look, then do as he was told. The Mouse Pokémon's cheeks sparkled as he built up a charge, "PikaCHU!"

A bolt of yellow electricity arched out of Pikachu, lighting the room for a moment as it struck the Undead with full force. The energy blew the corpse back with the force of a freight train. They left behind chunks of rotten flesh, stuck on the hole's edges dripping black blood. The move impressed Ash. It was a good Thunderbolt, seemed Tesla's knockout switch move had worn off. Pikachu can now use his full electrical abilities. But Ash doubted it, the diet his Mouse Pokémon had been eating wasn't suited to his biology. The Pokémon trainer couldn't do anything about it right now, Pikachu would had to make do with what he got.

"Nice shock, Pikachu!" Ash cheered.

Pikachu blushed and scratched his head, "Pika Pika _Pika_."

Two more Undead appeared at the window, they moaned and stuck their arms through for a hungry grab at Ash. He raised his AR-15 and fired a suppressed bullet into both their skulls, the corpses flopped back and drop to the ground instantly.

Ash strapped the AR-15 to his back and grabbed a wooden board, "Find some nails, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

Ash carried the board to the window and looked for a hammer, he found one sitting on the nearby table. He grabbed it and looked around for nails, there was a slightly bent one lying among the glass shards and splinters on the floor. Ash picked it up and slapped the board on the window, then hammered the bent nail into the frame.

"Pikachu!"

The Mouse Pokémon returned with a small box, Ash opened it up and saw it was full of galvanized nails, "Good job, Pikachu!" he praised, "Keep an eye out in the hall for any Undead!"

"Pikachu!" the Pikachu nodded.

As Pikachu kept a lookout, Ash nailed the wooden board in place. He then picked up another board and nailed that one on. Many of these boards had been broken and full of holes from previous nails, Ash wondered how much abuse can they handle before the break. With more boards and planks lying around, there won't be any problem barricading the windows. Ash felt the sweat form on his forehead as he nailed a 4th board in place. He took a step back and checked his handiwork. Yeah, it'll hold.

An arm shot through the gaps, Ash jumped back in time as a slashed its nails at him. The Undead was pressing his head against the barricade, his head was over one of the gaps. Ash pulled out his Westinghouse knife and clenched the handle, he stabbed through the boards black blood dripped out. The zombie let out a death moan as it slumped backwards, dropping with the other corpses outside.

Ash withdrew the blade and stared at it, black blood soaked it from the tip, almost touching the handle. The oil-like mixture reeked of rotting eggs and concentrated iron. Ash grabbed several sheets of paper towels nearby and wiped most of the blood off, then chuck them into the bio-hazard bucket.

_Don't push the blade in too hard_. Ash told himself.

Pikachu shot around and glanced at his trainer, his eyes bulged with terror, "Pika!"

Ash stuck the hammer on his belt and pocket the box of nails, then ran back out into the hall. Two hungry pairs of red eyes bobbed up and down towards him in the far darkness, slowly moaning as they shambled towards him. Ash raised his AR-15 and squeezed a few rounds. Like small lights, they darkened, followed by soft thuds on the floor.

_Can't see my own hand_, Ash thought, _It's just so dark with the lights off_.

Ash remembered he left his flashlight up in the living quarters, he ran up the stairwell as Pikachu followed behind. The ammunition Ash laid out on his bed were still there, no one had touched it. Ash sat down his AR-15 and .22 rifle, he fished into his backpack and pulled out the flashlight. He clicked it on, the room lit up under its beam. Satisfied, Ash strapped the AR-15 onto his back pulled out his pistol before running back downstairs.

The flashlight's beam brightened the way, now Ash didn't have to rely on the faulty emergency lighting and electric lanterns. Ash rushed down the hall towards the 2nd stairwell, just in time to see another Walker climb through a breached wall. He squeezed off a shot, the Undead's head jerked back before it dropped.

The hole the zombie just climbed through was slightly bigger than the hole at the window, it looked like a rodent had chewed its way through it. Several boards laid on the floor, Ash wasted no time picking them up and nailing them over the hole.

**. . .**

Merle made a small detour when the survivors started taking potshots at the hordes, he limped around the storefronts and approached the Pokémon Center by the side. It was a weak spot, the front and back had tons of windows but the sides had a few, and these windows aren't occupied. Merle pushed through under the cover of darkness. Unlike the survivors, who can't see a damn thing in the darkness, zombies had excellent night vision. The florescent glow in their eyes provide the necessary light to see, to the Undead the darkness was the equivalent of a room full of red lightbulbs.

The noise of the war zone helped masked Merle's approach, his red eyes locked onto the emergency exit. A flash of light shined through the window, Merle instinctively ducked and pressed his back against the wall. The light subsided as fast as it came. The Undead firefighter stepped to the door and peaked through its tiny window, all he could see was a flight of stairs and a doorway. The door was wide open, Merle couldn't see through since the angle was bad.

He checked the door for a way in. There was no knob or latch. Figures. The manufacturer designed these fire escape doors so it can only be opened from the inside. No way to barge through, the door was also designed to open outwards to comply with fire codes.

But these doors have windows designed to shatter, so firefighters could get in. Several nerves sparkled in Merle's brain . . . he recalled he had done this before, how does it go again?

He took the spike of his fire ax and smashed it into the window, the glass shattered and clattered to the ground. Merle scraped the remaining glass away with the ax, then reached in. After fumbling his hand inside for a few seconds, Merle let out a frustrated grump. He forgot he lost his sense of touch. That doesn't matter, he still remembered where the latch to open the fire escape door was placed . . . sort of.

He reached in again and jerked his hand where he thought the latch would be, the emergency exit opened. Just as Merle pulled it open, it got stuck ajar. Now what was wrong with it? Merle peaked through the gap and saw why, someone had welded hooks into the door and its frame, and there was a metal bar custom-made to keep it shut.

Merle stared at it with a blank expression, he reached in and grabbed the bar. He tried to jiggle it loose, it didn't give . . . well, this would take a moment to figure out.

**. . .**

Randal fought against the duct tape bonds, blind in the dark with gunshots ringing all over the place he considered figuring a way to escape. He knew the way back to the prison, if he could hot wire a vehicle then he might make it back in one piece. With everybody focusing their attention on the bandits and the Undead they attracted, nobody would notice Randal slipping out of the Pokémon Center. He would be Scott-free in no time.

The guards had duct taped his legs to the chair and his arms to his back, it felt like they used an entire roll just to secure him. Fighting through the rubber tape itself was no option, the multiple layers was just to strong. However, the adhesive wasn't waterproof. It will degrade when wet. Randal had been sweating since hearing the first gunshots, enough sweat had pooled under duct tape on his hands to loosen them. Randal fought against the duct tape, his pores help spew more sweat under the adhesive. Within a few minutes, the bandit yanked a hand free.

He flexed it for a moment, loosening the joints before he worked at the rest of his bonds. Randal freed his other hand from the duct tape, then freed his leg from the bonds. Then came the tough part, Randal tried to peal off the duct tape from his injured leg, it shot pain up his nerves upon tugging the bonds. Randal took a deep breath and shook his head, he bit down on his teeth as he pealed up the seam. Little by little, the duct tape bond unraveled. More pain stabbed his leg, he swore at the top of his lungs and waited for it to recede.

_He just had to shoot me there_, Randal thought, _At a delicate part_.

It was suppose to be an easy raid, but these people just had to use their machine gun. Though disabled, the bandits lost so many people that it didn't matter. Randal wondered why this Ash brought him here alive, wondered why they had the trial. Society was dead, can't these people see that!? The ex-convicts needed supplies, why shouldn't they go shooting people as they come down the road? Randal told them they were going to raid the place, sure enough he was right. They wasted a lot of time just trying to figure out what to do with him, in the end they were just going to put him down like a helpless Pokémon.

No, he couldn't let that happen. He was a human being, more important than a loyal Pokémon. Pokémon can't figure out sh*t, can't build tools, can't properly treat injuries. They're good for nothing in this new world, they're better off food. How come these people hadn't eaten the Pokémon yet? Randal didn't wanna stick around and find out.

Once the duct tape was off, he tried to stand. His legs buckled under his weight and he dropped to the floor, Randal took a deep breath and pulled himself back up. He looked around and found a nearby window, Randal limped to it and peered out.

"For f*ck sake!" he gasped when he saw the horde of zombies, probably ranging to the thousands, all rifled up to kill. They flung their arms as they jogged towards the barricades and start swinging their arms like clubs, several streaks of light spat out from the barricades and knocked the zombies back, their heads exploding in the process.

The bandits must had attracted them, but how far did the sound travel? Randal had no way of knowing, but he can safely assume that the prison was far from Carson, so far that it wouldn't be affected by the frenzied hordes. Chances are his own comrades were long gone, and it won't be long before the survivors here would join them.

Randal frantically looked around for a weapon, it was so dark that he couldn't see through the darkness. He got to his knees and feel around for anything to grab, all he could find were the duct taped that bonded him to the chair.

A wave of light squeezed through the gaps of the door of the room. Randal looked closely at the stray light, someone was shining a flashlight in the hall. It was gone as fast as it came, Randal could barely hear the faint footsteps of someone running. Time was running out.

Randal stood back up and limped towards the door. He wondered if it was unlocked. If so, he was done for. No way the survivors would let him out, all the banging would do was attract the zombies. They would break down that door and gorge themselves on his organs. Randal took a deep breath and hoped the door would be unlocked, he put all of his faith into it. He reached out and grasped the doorknob, then twisted it . . .

. . . and it opened.

**. . .**

"Ash!" cried Brock.

Ash rushed back to the entrance, the Undead were right up against the barricade, threatening to get through. His friends stepped back and shoot off the zombies trying to climb over, every time one gets put down another popped up. Most of the Undead seemed to keep their distance, not pressing against the barricade all at once. Either the snipers had thinned their numbers or the dead are figuring out some sort of strategy. Ash doubted it, if they had figured out a way in the Pokémon Center would be overrunned an hour ago.

"Give me a hand here!" cried Brock as he struggled to push a vending machine, the Undead had dislodged it from the barricade and struggle to knock it over.

Ash vaulted over the inner barricade and pushed against the vending machine. It slid back into the barricade and held firm.

"Thanks." said Brock.

Ash drew his AR-15 and fired concentrated shots through the barricade, taking out several zombies in rapid fashion. He counted to 30 and withdrew. Ash gave the barricade a quick scan, he spotted a zombie hunched over at the window barriers in the lobby. The dead thing knocked off a board and struggled to crawl in, but it got caught in something. The ghoul hanged helpless as it thrashed its arms, like a fish out of water. Ash drew his knife and jogged into the library, he sank the blade into the zombie's temple with a single thrust.

The zombie let out its death groan and went limp, Ash kicked the zombie back outside and picked up a board. He managed to nail the board back on in time when another zombie approached the barricade, it stuck its head through, making it easier for Ash to knife it.

"They're getting more active." he thought out loud as he kicked the corpse back.

Ash peered outside and saw the zombie horde was losing strength, their numbers were dwindling faster than they could replace. This could be a sign the survivors were winning this fight, but more Undead still bobbled their heads as they managed to make it to the barricade. Ash grabbed another board and nailed it into the window frames, constantly glancing at the horde as he struggled to fix the barricade. In a minute, Ash couldn't nail in anymore boards.

He quickly jumped over the inner barricade to check on the other window barriers.

**. . .**

Snivy found what she was looking for, though it wasn't much: Just a half liter of whiskey and a couple of aluminum cans of beer. Seemed like the humans drank most of the happy juice already. She didn't feel like looking for more, this was enough.

When she got back to the room, her friends just stared at her without saying a word. She stared at them back, expecting them to ask what she found. But they didn't. They turned away and Snivy slumped down against the wall. She stared at the bottle of whiskey and popped the lid open, then slurped it down . . . hmm, it tasted a bit stronger than wine. She downed the entire bottle into her stomach, belched, then sat the bottle aside. It didn't take long for the alcohol to find its way through her system. Snivy's eyes went soft as she relaxed, her tense muscles eased as she stared up at the ceiling.

_Maybe a can of happy juice would help me sleep through this_. The Grass Snake Pokémon thought.

She popped open a can and sipped it, just half of it was enough to knock her out for the night.

**. . .**

Walking down the emergency stairwell was painfully slow, Randal struggled down the stairs in the dark wincing every time his bad leg took a step. The Pokémon Center was . . . what, 5 stories? It felt taller than that. Randal tried to keep pace, he took short breaks to relax his leg, then walked a few more steps and repeat. When he reached the first floor, he saw the faint glow of lights coming through the door. Randal peaked through and saw several figures firing their guns at the Undead.

Randal withdrew and turned towards the emergency exit, he sulked when he saw it was boarded up. He tried to muscle one of the boards off, but they were on tight. No way he could escape through there. Randal glanced back at the group for a moment, their stance remained unchanged, the survivors stood firm as they fired away.

_Come on_, Randal thought, _Where would I find the way out_.

Then it hit him. He remembered that all Pokémon Centers were connected in case of an emergency, the underground Faraday tunnel network connects every Pokémon Center on the island together. It also had escape hatches to the surface, he could find one of those down there and he'll be out of there in no time. All Randal needs to do was find a way to the basement, he scanned the doors in the hall for any signs. One door had a sign that read _BASEMENT_, pointing to it. That door was close to the survivors. Randal was sure they were so distracted that they wouldn't notice him.

_Better now or never_. Randal thought.

Randal stepped out and walked down the hall, almost in his normal walking speed. As he approached the basement, beads of sweat trailed down his neck. All the survivors had to do was turn their-

_Sh*t! _Randal thought.

He quickly opened a door and dove through.

**. . .**

Max jumped when he heard someone entered the bathroom, he held his breath and listened. He heard heavy breathing and groaning, sounding scared as he was. Max bit his lip and huddled his face into his knees, _Please don't come in here_. He said in the back of his head.

**. . .**

Randal heard sporadic footsteps running down the hall, followed by the scampering of tiny feet, "You there, Pikachu!" said Ash's voice.

"Pika!" his Mouse Pokémon chirped.

The bandit waited in the darkness for the footsteps to pass. Randal gulped, that was a close one. If Ash were to found him, he might not get a 2nd chance. No mercy next time. He sat there for a moment, combing the tips of his fingers against the tile floor as he gathered his thoughts, _Okay, you should be in the clear_.

Randal propped the door open and peered out, the coast was clear. He quietly stepped out and closed the door behind him.

**. . .**

"Whew." Max thought out loud, whoever it was he was gone. He was safe once more.

**. . .**

Randal made it to the basement without further incident, the way down was lit by faulty emergency lights. The bulbs flicker violently as they struggled to stay on, while some emergency lights were dark and dead. It was good enough for Ralph to see, he had no problems getting to the bottom of the stairs. He walked into the basement and scanned the dusty shelves for a weapon, Randal found a section of lead pipe that proved useful. He also found a cheap hand-held searchlight, small plastic flashlights normally used for camping. Randal picked up the searchlight and turned it on, it gave off a yellow glow. The beam wasn't that powerful, but it provided a wide 90 degree flood.

He shined the flashlight around to search for the entrance to the access tunnels. There it was, next to where he came. Randal approached it and saw a steel pipe bar the way. Hm, why was there a steel pipe keeping the door shut? It had several latches and was rated to withstand an inferno. It didn't really matter at this point, Randal lifted the bar off its hooks and laid it on the floor. He unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open. With the searchlight leading the way, Randal stepped down the stairs and reached the bottom.

"Great," he said to himself, "Another barred door. Great, just great."

The door down here was also barred. What the f*ck? Randal grumbled to himself and pulled the steel bar off. He tossed the bar aside, it pierced his ears as it clattered noisily on the concrete floor.

"Home stretch." Randal said to himself as he yank the door open.

His eyes burst open from sudden shock, "Holy 'o sweet sh*t!"

A hundred red eyes stared back at Randal, they stood still like a Deerling caught in a pair of headlights. Most of the diseased Pokémon were electric-types, all sustaining small to severe bites from the zombies who turn them. The smell of stagnant death overwhelmed Randal's brain, it was more horrid than the Walkers on the surface.

Just as Randal stepped back, a zombie – wearing a pair of bloody hospital gowns – clamped a stiff hand on Randal's shoulder, taking a chunk of flesh out of his bicep with its teeth. Randal screamed, almost dropping his searchlight. He swung his lead pipe at the zombie and smashed its skull with a single blow, dropping the corpse. As the rest of the Undead moaned and snarled, Randal staggered back through the door and slammed it shut. Quickly, he grabbed the steel bar and slammed it back on its hooks. The Undead pound ferociously against the fireproof door like a squad of homicidal maniacs, roaring mad with hunger.

"Sh*t!" Randal swore as he clutched the zombie bite.

The bite wasn't deep, the skin was just sheered off. Somewhere in the basement there had to be a first aid kit or a roll of gauze. This was a Pokémon Center after all, there had to be some bandages somewhere, and maybe some antiseptic. With no time to lose, Randal started back up the stairs. His leg wound didn't scream this time, the bite had override the pain. He hurried up the stairs as the fireproof door rocked and trembled against a dozen fists.

Just when he got to the top of the stairwell, Randal sat his foot on the step the wrong way and slipped, "F*ck!"

He tumbled back down the stairs like a dodge ball, dropping his lead pipe and searchlight. The pipe clanged and clattered before stopping at the bottom, the searchlight fell over the edge of the stairs and landed on the floor, it flickered madly before dying. Randal reached the bottom of the stairs and hit his head against the concrete floor, he flopped on his back and moaned. The last thing he saw was the flickering emergency light at the top of the stairs, its light bulb exploded, plunging Randal into darkness.

**. . .**

Ash's muscles tore at the tendons, he was putting up more boards faster than the dead could take them down. Sweat stained his clothes despite it only being 8 degrees Celsius inside. A few times Ash clipped a finger with the hammer, he held in his swears and tried a new tactic. First he tapped the nail into the wood so it had a good bite, then gave the head a hard pound with the hammer. The nail drove in and latched to the window frame, who knows how long it would hold.

Just as Ash rushed to tend to another window barrier, he jumped when he saw a pointed-shovel swing through it. Several boards cracked under the first swing, the 2nd bust the boards. They clattered on the floor as a zombie climbed through, holding the shovel high over his head. Pikachu worked fast and used Thunderbolt, the zombie's limbs jerked and twitched like a person having a seizure. Its hand still clamped tight to the shovel's handle as it tipped over. Ash shoved his knife deep into the back of the zombie's head, putting it down.

"They're using weapons now!?" Ash asked himself, staring at the bloody shovel.

"Pika _Pika!?_" Pikachu asked as well.

The familiar growl of a zombie Pikachu roared outside, followed by more growls. Pikachu squealed and hid behind Ash's legs. His trainer knew it would do no good, the Undead Pikachus can sniff him out.

One Undead Mouse Pokémon jumped up at the barricade bit at the wood, its red eyes hungrily peered in as it tried to tear off the board. It was no good, the board held firm. Ash pushed his Pikachu aside and clutched his knife, he rushed up and stabbed the Undead Pikachu straight in the eye. It died instantly, Ash pulled the knife back and kicked the rotting carcass back outside. Four more Undead Pikachus popped up and climbed up the barricade, clawing and biting away the boards with their bloody paws and teeth.

Ash drew his pistol and shoot off the Undead Pikachus, bullets went clean through their skulls as the momentum knocked them down. Four shots, four kills. The small horde of Undead Mouse Pokémon was put down. Ash checked the barricade, the boards only received bloody scratches and teethmarks, no damage was done to compromise their strength. If the Undead Pikachus can't break the boards, can they squeeze through the gaps? Tesla can do it, so why not they?

"There's going to be more of them," said Ash as he holstered his pistol, "There's always more."

"Pikachu." Pikachu agreed.

Ash muscled the shovel out of the dead corpse's grip, he carried it back to the entrance where the battle was getting heated up. More Undead were flopped against the outside barricade, their combined moans synchronized into an Undeath wail. It sent a chill down Ash's spine, the attack had just stepped up a level.

"They're using weapons," cried Misty, "Golly, they're using weapons!"

"Good thing they're not using them properly," said Mark as he shot a crossbow bolt through another Undead skull. The bolt went through the bridge of the zombie's nose, it hanged there for a moment before flopping back outside.

Tesla peaked through the gaps of the barricade, clutching tightly to his M3A1, "There's some Undead Pokémon on the way," he spoke like an announcer, "and boy do they look hungry."

"What types?" Brock asked.

"They're so decomposed, I couldn't tell at all. All I can tell they're a mix of bi-petal and quadruped, the only Undead Pokémon I can positively identify is my former kind."

Just as Ash's friends knocked off the Undead reaching in, an Undead Pikachu squeezed through the gaps at the floor. It gnashed its teeth in blind rage as it crawled through, running straight for Tesla, it leaped up in the air and dove on top of him. The old Pikachu dodged-rolled to the side at the last minute, sending the Undead Pikachu smashing face-first into the wall.

"Ice ax!" Tesla called out.

Professor Oak tossed Tesla the ice ax, Tesla grabbed it and faced the Undead Pikachu. It got back on all fours again and charged a 2nd time, unleashing a monstrous roar. Tesla plunged the ice ax straight into the zombie's face, he gave the handle a twist, like flipping the off switch the Undead Pikachu relaxed and drop to the floor.

"Yeah," he cheered, punching his fist into the air, "I can do this all night!"

"Well," said Mark, "You got more Undead Pikachus on the way."

The Undead Mouse Pokémon hopped onto the barricade and struggled to claw their way through. The Undead Pichus got through first, Mark stomped on their tiny bodies before they got up. His foot squished their brains and organs out in a black zombie-oil puddle. Mark kicked them back outside as he shoot the zombie Pikachus off the barricade. A couple got through, they jumped down and made a mad dash for Tesla. He drove the ice ax's pick into the first one's skull, then used the momentum to spin it around to whack the second. It smashed its head against the barricade, killing it.

Tesla chucked the Undead Pikachu off his ice ax, it flopped lifelessly to the floor, oozing black blood out its face. Mark kicked it aside to the wall, along with the other Undead Mouse Pokémon. They would burn them later.

Ash stepped up and started shouting orders, "Okay, get that barricade repaired. Misty, get us some more ammunition. Brock, check up on the other survivors. Where's Wally?"

"Here." said Wally as he came up.

"Ask around upstairs for anyone who can shoot, we need more hands up here."

Wally nodded, "Got it."

As Wally, Brock, and Misty ran up the stairs, Tesla piped, "What about the other barricades?"

"I'm on it." said Ash.

**. . .**

As Ash ran back to check on the other barriers, Tesla helped the others rebuild the barricade. Despite his small frame, he pushed large objects back in place without much effort. It wore him out, he leaned against the barricade and took a deep breath, "Damn," he muttered, "Getting old sucks."

He watched Professor Oak rush out of the room, probably going to tend to something. Delia leaped over the barricade and helped secure the barricade. Tesla stretched his limbs and fetched some more broken furniture from the lobby, he pushed half of whats left of a coffee table and stood it up. Mark picked it up and placed it on top of the barricade, then nailed it in place with a hammer.

_Why do I feel so tired? _Tesla asked himself.

Normally he wouldn't need much sleep, due to his age. But the stress of the zombie outbreak was demanding, sapping out his energy reserves more than he could replenish it. Tesla struggled to put an effort, he pushed a burnt chair from the lobby and Iris took it. She and Cilan hoist it up on the barricade and Mark secured it with a few nails. Tesla gave it a brief few seconds before fetching another bit of broken furniture. Just as he got the stone trash can pushed up to the barricade, Tesla panted, _Maybe I gotta take a short break. _He thought.

A small part of the barricade bust open and a zombie hand poked through, it reached for Tesla's tail. He didn't notice the zombie in time until it grabbed him. His eyes bulged inside his goggles as the Undead pulled at his tail to drag him outside, "Oh no no no _no_," he yelped, "F*ck!"

Mark spotted Tesla's plight in time, he dolphin dived towards him and grabbed his arms, "Tesla!" he cried.

The outer barricade broke further and a zombie crawled through, it snarled as its death grip pulled Tesla outside. More Undead crawled through the hole and grabbed on the tail, their superhuman strength threatened to consume the century old Pikachu, "I need some help here guys!" cried Mark.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and pitched in to help, Cilan grabbed one of Tesla's arms, Iris grabbed Tesla by the waist and struggled to pull him back. The old Pikachus feet kicked visiously as the Undead piled up near the hole, pulling him ever closer to the horde.

Tesla couldn't believe it, whatever energy he had left sprung out. He used his hind legs to kick his way back to the group, but the Undead were too strong. Several hands had latched itself to his tail, he could feel the tendons tearing at the base, "Please help me," he cried, "Help! Help!"

"I gotta you old piece of sh*t," cried Mark as he pulled back, "You're not getting eaten tonight!"

"This is bad, this is bad!" cried Iris.

As Tesla struggled to hang on, a thought came to his mind,"Mark, I gotta tell you something!"

"What!?" Mark barked.

"Ten years ago, I took a dump in your toilet's reservoir tank!"

Mark growled, "My dad blamed Emolga for that!"

The Undead horde pulled Tesla in further, the zombie who had the strongest grip pulled himself over the old Pikachu's tail and sunk his teeth into the top. Tesla Westinghouse screamed at the top of his lungs, in his Pikachu voice and language.

**. . .**

The scream was so loud, every human and Pokémon in the Pokémon Center heard it. It triggered the Pokémon Center's instincts. Realizing one of their own was in great danger, they all ran out of their hiding places and down the emergency stairwells to the entrance. They got up on the inner barricade and gasped in horror as they watched the zombie feast on the end of Tesla's tail. The old Pikachu screamed out a mixture of curse words and cries for help in his Pikachu language, his friends struggled to pull him back in, but the looks on their faces showed they had just lost hope.

Waterfalls of tears trail down the Pikachus' eyes, half sat there and cried, the other half cried for help at the top of their lungs. None of them knew what to do, they thought they could try and help but they thought wrong. Filled with shame and doubt, the lasts of the Pokémon Center Pikachu team's spirit broke down.

Professor Oak got back down stairs and saw the scene, then Delia, then Brock, then Wally, then Misty. A few other people came in and watched in fright. The Faraday Island locals felt tears trail down their eyes as they watched their beloved childhood hero get eaten by death.

Tesla sucked in all the air his lungs can hold and screamed out at the top of his breath, "ASH!"

**. . .**

As Ash was tending to a barricade, he heard Tesla's cry, "Tesla," he cried, "Tesla, I'm coming!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried.

Ash ran back to the entrance, just in time to see the zombie rip a chunk of flesh off of Tesla's tail with its putrid teeth. The world slowed down, almost to a crawl. Ash thought up a plan, he looked around and saw Brock's fire ax leaning up against the wall, apparently unused.

He knew what he had to do.

"Ash!" cried Delia, she watched her son jumped over the barricade and grab the ax.

"What are you doing!?" Professor Oak asked as he pulled at his gray hairs.

Ash held up the ax and ran up to Tesla, without a moment to lose he held the ax high over his head and slammed the blade down at the base of the lightning bolt tail. The ax head bit deep, severing an artery. Bright red blood hissed out like a hose to form an arch of blood, the arch quickly decreased as Tesla's blood pressure dropped. The old Pikachu screamed in agony, his goggles barely containing his tears.

"Cut the f*cking tail off, Ash!" Mark cried.

Ash pulled the ax head out and slammed it down again, a vain ruptured, spewing a small arch of much darker blood. Tesla screamed again, he lost control of his bowels, dumping his feces over the forming puddle of his own blood. Ash raised the ax high again and took a deep breath, putting all of his weight on the back swing.

The fire ax cut clean through the rest of the tail and smashed into the tile floor, Ash's friends jolted back with Tesla, the Undead tumbled back, taking Tesla's severed tail with them.

"Tesla!" cried Ash.

Mark cradled Tesla in his arms as the old Pikachu panted heavily, his eyes bulging wide open from shock and tears, "Damnthatwasacloseone." he said in one breath.

Tesla limped and passed out, Mark got back on his feet and gave Ash a look, "What a save."

"Yeah," said Ash, his eyes also wide open, "Quite a safe."

Ash gazed at the crowd, all the Pikachus – including his own – stared at him in shock. The humans, including his own mother, were less tensed but just as surprised, "You saved his life." said Wally.

"Keep an eye on him Wally," said Ash, "Make sure he gets some rest tonight, we got a killer workload in the morning."

Wally nodded and headed back upstairs. Ash turned to his Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon clasped his hands over his mouth as he stared in horror at his trainer, "What if it was you," said Ash, "You think I would let him get turned by those things?"

Pikachu thought for a moment and nodded, "Pika!"

Brock tapped Ash's shoulder, "Ash," he stammered, "We got a familiar face. Well, sort of."

Ash turned around, "Who could it . . . oh my gosh!"

The rotted remains of a Piplup came crawling through the hole. It's skin had long since sheered off, exposing brown blackish skeletal muscles. Tangled intestines and loose muscles were all that was left of its legs. It snarled heavy growls out its bloody beak, its red eyes locked on Ash.

If Dawn were to see what had become of her Piplup, she would had wound up like Ritchie. She would opt out, couldn't handle the pain. Ironic that she indirectly caused Piplup's own death, had he knew what he knew now Ash would have put Piplup down before he ran out into the street. Now the Penguin Pokémon was back, starving for living meat. It dragged itself across the floor with its decomposed arms, smearing Tesla's feces and blood on the floor along with its own gunk. It hissed and lashed an arm at the group, yet out of reach.

Ash had no sympathy left, his humanity had finally ran dry. He simply walked up to Dawn's Undead Piplup and stomped on its head, the skull broke apart and brains splattered everywhere. The thing moaned its final breath before dying.

A new wave of Undead creatures swarm at the barricade, clawing, gnashing, growling, and wailing Undeath. Ash looked up and stared at the zombie horde for a moment . . . So this was how its going to be. These Undead, destroyed the lives of the Living, then take them for more recruits. The dead walked the earth, the Netherworld filled to the brim of souls. The other side might be worse than the land of the Living Dead, even the place for where all the good human and Pokémon souls goes. Ash realized he decides what his fate would be, not the dead. He wasn't going to let them take more of his family and friends and Pokémon, they were all that he had left. Ash squeezed the fire ax handle and watched several wooden boards fall from the barricade, he kicked Piplup's corpse aside like a discarded toy and turned to his friends.

"Work fast, don't let up."

**TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	42. Ch 42: Ax Me a Question

******Disclaimer:**** I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice:**** For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLII_

_Ax Me a Question_

Ash lift the fire ax high over his head and called it down on a zombie. Its head stuck through the outer barricade like a bird in a bird house, the ax took it clean off, it dropped to the floor where it was soon stomped. The rest of the body flopped back outside where it joined the other corpses. The ax swung again, lodging into the forehead of another zombie. Ash dislodged the ax and kicked the corpse back. One zombie somehow got on top of the vending machine and was crawling over it, Ash drove the fire ax's spike into its temple and tore it out like a claw. Black blood splattered over the Coca Cola label, the corpse went limp and flopped over the vending machine, dropping to the floor with a soft thud.

Brock grabbed the corpse by the feet and pulled it off to the side, Cilan and Misty gotten a hold of shotguns and shoot the Undead as they draw near. The other survivors worked feverishly to fix the barricade to keep it from collapsing. Everybody didn't yell orders, they all knew what to do.

Mark returned to the lobby with his .22 varmint rifle, he jogged up to the outer barricade where he fired well-placed shots between the red eyes of the zombie horde. He was the only one who had a smile on his face, an eerie grin of amusement. How can anyone had a good time after listening to the Undead moans for . . . what, 3 hours? His hands and sweater was covered in Tesla's blood, still fresh from the source. Give him red eyes and pale skin and he might, just might, look like a zombie.

Ash new his role well, as the zombies stick an arm or a head in the Pokémon Center he would simply hack it off with the ax. He wound up rushing from one part of the barricade to another, trying to keep up. Rotting limbs and squashed heads fell to the floor, as they piled up the survivors kicked them back outside through the gaps in the barricade.

The job was so gruesome, Ash was splattered with black muck. He didn't notice, there was black muck painted everywhere.

**. . .**

Carley figured Mark was doing defense, she couldn't find him anywhere. But what kind of defense? Was he sniping at the windows or at ground level, handling the full brunt of the horde? She had no way of knowing. With Henry dead, she couldn't stand on losing her boyfriend. This was a bleak world, her parents were probably dead, her other friends gone. Everybody she knew before the Undead nightmare had either succumbed to the outbreak or lost their morality. Only a mere handful of friends remained: One was Mark, who seemed to not have a problem with the apocalypse, and Tesla, who was pretty much enjoying it as much as Mark.

But what about Ash? He seemed to be quite irrational and unorthodox. Every time Carley sees him, his hands would be trembling and his eyes wide open, bulging from the sockets. Did he had a dream to become a Pokémon Master to begin with? Yes, he did. The dream itself had died, died when the dead achieved reanimation. The zombies had corrupted Ash, Mark had said that Tesla wanted to keep Ash from loosing his innocence. It happened to Mark, to Carley, to Henry . . . perhaps anybody who ever set foot on this island . . . and that was before the zombie apocalypse.

Carley got up and peered out the window, the horde was dissipating. There used to be thousands of walkers, now there seemed only a few dozen left. The survivors were winning this battle, the number of lives tonight might be outstanding.

But it far from over, the Undead aren't letting up. A few just keep pushing on, when they got put down even fewer showed up to replace them. Heads explode, bodies drop, bodies rot. The gore and nightmares was all that remained.

I should help, Carley thought, I should help the others. I know how to shoot, far away as 70 meters!

Carley left the room and made her way past the other survivors, she drew her pistol and checked the magazine. 12 rounds, max, good. She had plenty more clips in her pockets, it should be enough to take a few dozen walkers out. Heck, maybe their ain't that many left out there by the time she got down.

She walked down the emergency stairwell, her flashlight's beam leading the way. The stairwell was so dark, her weak flashlight lit it up well. No wonder their wasn't anyone hanging around here, she couldn't see sh*t.

When she approached the first floor, she stopped mid-way down the last staircase. Something was wrong. The bar that kept the fire door secured laid on the floor. Did someone ran out? No, the bar was laying at the foot of the door, it should be leaning against the wall if anyone was heading out this way. Carley felt cold sweat trail down her neck as she cautiously stepped down the stairs. She sat her flashlight down, then reached for the bar.

The fire exit flew open, Carley's blood froze, the last thing she saw were red demonic eyes charging at her.

**. . .**

Merle pushed his comrade in with great timing. The zombie was on top the survivor in a second, she fired a sporadic shot into its torso, it had no effect. She screamed as the zombie pinned her down and took a chunk of flesh off her shoulder. The Undead then tore open her belly and ripped out her intestines, blood pooled around her as she slipped into shock. She still screamed, wheezing heavily after each cry. The screaming would normally attract more Undead, but this would catch the other survivor's attention.

With no time to waste, Merle charged in, dragging the fire ax's blade against the floor. He limped down the hall and spotted several other survivors up ahead. A nerve sparked, he noticed a door was cracked ajar. He walked in and shut the door, then waited.

**. . .**

The scream was unmistakable. For a moment, Mark froze in place. At first he thought it could be someone else, but the scream, the very pitch of the scream, was all too familiar. He spun around, reloading the varmint rifle as he vault over the inner barricade.

"Carley!" Mark cried.

Ash was right behind him, he held the fire ax by the the neck with one hand as he caught up. Mark followed the screams, it led to one of the emergency stairwells. When Mark ran in, he froze when he saw a zombie eating his girlfriend's intestines. She screamed at the top of her lungs, unleashing sporadic slaps at the zombie in a vain attempt to fight back. Mark didn't no what to do but watch just a meter away as his girlfriend's life slipped away.

When the others ran up to Mark, they stopped and saw the slaughter. Delia looked away, Professor Oak discreetly stepped back, Ash's Pikachu covered his eyes and sobbed. Ash just stood there, clutching the fire ax, he too didn't know what to do. As Carley's screams bounced around Mark's head, he realized that he could do something, but only one thing. He raised his .22 rifle and aimed at Carley's head, Mark squeezed the trigger without saying a word.

The bullet blast clean through Carley's skull, splattering bright red blood on the floor. She was dead in an instant. The fate Walker didn't noticed, it was too focused gnawing on a part of Carley's colon. Ash gripped his ax with both hands and drove the spike into the back of the zombie's skull, it slumped over and plowed its face into Carley's abdominal cavity.

Mark looked up and noticed a zombie was coming in, just when it stuck a thrashing arm through the door way Mark grabbed the fire door and swung it shut, then body slammed it in place. The door severed the rotting appendage with ease, dropping to the floor. Mark picked up the steel bar and slapped it back on its hooks, then turned to Ash, "Don't say a word to Emolga or my Pokémon, I'll tell her myself."

"Got it." Ash nodded, his eyes still wide from what they'd just seen.

**. . .**

Natas took his time reloading his rifle, no need to rush, the battle was already won. Just a few stay walking corpses among the sea of death. Bodies piled up on top of each other like dirty laundry, covering the grass field with brains and blood. Their combined smell made a few snipers feel their dinners come up, forcing them to vomit over the edge. Natas realized what it really was. This wasn't a battle, not even a war, it was a massacre. A massacre of people and Pokémon already dead being slaughtered for a gruesome and more permanent death. Natas cocked his rifle and stand out over the edge and sighed.

A part of of him felt sunken in. He knew many folks who were now rotting down below, some quite personally. But they weren't people or Pokémon anymore, just rotten husks . . . whatever they were now.

He got up and head downstairs, walking past several snoozing survivors. The stress had numbed their senses, many people huddled with their loved ones and Pokémon and fell asleep, others laid flat on the floor. Natas had to carefully navigate his way through, trying his best not to step on any hands or tails. He made his way to the stairwell and walked down.

The lower 2nd and 3rd levels were empty, not a single would be sleeping here tonight. Natas walked into a room filled with rows of empty cats and located his duffel bag, he grabbed it and head to the pantry where he stuffed it with canned food and bottled water. He knew the Pokémon Center was already lost, he didn't need to see the damage done by the bandits. Ash and his friends were going to leave, he had overheard their plans of a new safehouse and chances are, he wouldn't be invited. He doesn't need an invitation, all he need was Ash and his Pikachu to stay alive, everybody else was expendable.

The Boss would need to hear of this attack, it might jar his plans a bit. If Ash lived tonight, then Natas would hear of his actions in the morning. If he died, then might as well leave, the Boss would have no other use for him and he would be on his own. Natas didn't care at this point, he was too tired. It was 2-oh-hundred hours and he needed some sleep. He let out a yawn as he left the pantry and returned to his cot. Natas just slumped on it, didn't bother to pull the blankets or change into PJ's. He checked to see if his Desert Eagle was in its pistol and the .22 and .16 gauge was by his side. They were. Natas was going to sleep easy tonight.

**. . .**

Under the glow of half a dozen electric lanterns and a propane light, Nurse Joy stopped the bleeding on what's left of Tesla's tail. The old Pikachu kept waking up and passing out, muttering unintelligible speech in his Pokémon language. The Audinos and Chanseys huddled against the wall, their Pokémon Center hats were tattered and covered with dust. Nurse Joy's nurse gown fair no better. It was tan, stained with blood splatter, and reeked of body sweat. Her hat was in better condition, but it had sweat stains at the brim.

Once the gauze was in place, Nurse Joy stepped back and slumped in a chair. Gunshots still rang in her ears as the moans of Undead plagued her mind. So this what it feels like to be a nurse in a war zone. She tried her best to save many lives, but she couldn't. Pokémon and people had died around her, she'd seen their faces, felt their pain, and all she could do was watch them die . . . then turn into a monstrosity.

Death, there was nothing but death, and its trying to get in. Some of the Pikachus were gone, and the Chanseys and Audinos . . . they were hurt, they felt hurt. Nurse Joy watched over them as they slept, they were shivering, muttering frightened stammers. She was a nurse after all, it was her job to help people and Pokémon feel better. Nurse Joy glanced over at the propane lamp, its light glowed a soft white that lit the room in its grace. She got up and walked up to the lantern, she turned a knob and the light fizzled out.

I'll help them, Nurse Joy thought, I know how to help them.

She turned back to Tesla, still sleeping on the operating table. The old Pikachu was at peace, saved by the Ketchum boy. It was unthinkable for someone to amputate a Pikachu's tail like that. She heard his scream, it was loud. Then the Kissinger boy brought him up, Nurse Joy shooed away him and his friends out of the room before patching up the tail. This senior resident of Faraday Island was trained, literally built to live in a world like this. Nurse Joy wasn't, she didn't went to medical school for this.

Might as well take him back up with the survivors. Nurse Joy thought.

She picked up Tesla in her arms, his body felt more plush than the other Pikachus. Nurse Joy cradled him like an infant in one arm and picked up one of the electric lanterns, then stepped out of the room. The 3rd floor was empty, devoid of people, good. This might make it easier to ease the Audino's and Chansey's suffering. She walked up the emergency stairwell and stepped through the crowded hallway, Nurse Joy found the Pokémon Center Pikachus, all huddled up in a single bunch at a corner of a room. Nurse Joy sat Tesla among them, they unconsciously wrapped their arms around them and pressed their faces into his fur. Tesla moaned, then let out a soft snore.

Okay, now that's done.

Nurse Joy stepped out in the hall and looked around, the survivors, all of them, were sleeping soundly against the walls. It was lit up by a few electric lanterns, the glow was dim, very dim, but it was enough to reflect off of shiny surfaces. Nurse Joy looked down and saw a pistol tucked away in a survivor's holster, the survivor: a thirty-something year old man, huddled with his daughter as he snored away. An empty whiskey bottle sat next to him, he must had sucked it dry. Nurse Joy bent down and extracted the pistol from his holster, she stepped into the emergency stairwell and examined it.

It was a .32 pistol, holds at least 8 rounds. It was small and compact enough to be easily manageable. Nurse Joy had some familiarity with firearms, grandfather was quite a gun nut and her father taught her a thing or two about firearms. She checked the magazine, fully loaded. She won't need that many rounds.

She head downstairs and walked back to the 3rd floor, Nurse Joy walked back in the operating room and saw her Audino and Chansey assistance hadn't moved. They continued to sleep, dreaming all sorts of horrible nightmares. Nurse Joy shut the door and locked it, she grabbed the nearby towel off the counter and stuffed it under the gap of the door. She squeezed in tight, so no air would get out. Once it was snug, Nurse Joy unscrewed the lantern attachment off the propane tank and sat it aside. She laid a hand on the valve and turned it back on, natural gas hissed out of the nozzle and escaped into the room.

The hissing was so muted that the Chanseys and Audinos didn't hear a thing. Nurse Joy sat back down and got out the gun, she flipped off the safety and cocked it, then listened to the hiss of the propane tank as it emptied itself.

**. . .**

Merle waited for a long time in the darkness, though it didn't feel dark. It was just a pitch dark red color that felt like the room had lit up, several nerves continue to spark and spit synapses as he listened to the gunshots and scampering feet. He pushed open the door and stuck his head through, no living being was in sight. Merle stepped out and walked down the hall, sniffing the air for any. . .

Yes, there was one. Merle turned towards the door labeled, MEN'S RESTROOM. He cocked his head to an angle and stared at the sign, almost amazed that he could remember how to read. Several nerves in his brain stem sparked madly, the glow in his red eyes brightened, feeding time was near. He pushed open the door and stepped through, as the door closed behind him Merle sniffed the air again. Yes, a living being was nearby.

**. . .**

"I think that's all of them." said Mark.

Ash checked the windows twice, he saw nothing but bodies. No zombies, human or Pokémon alike. They had stop coming. The massive zombie horde had been reduced to rotting corpses after just a few hours, the battle was won.

He sat the fire ax against the wall and sat down, taking a moment to rest, "Good riddance, I thought we're going to bail out that time."

"Pika." his Pikachu moaned.

Mark walked up to the power box and flipped the breaker, the lights came back on instantly. Under the bright glow of lights, Ash saw how bloody everything was. His friends were covered with zombie gunk, so was Mark. But he was mostly covered with the stuff, almost from head to toe. Amazingly Pikachu didn't get any blood on him, probably because he steered clear from all the gore.

"I'm going to go check on my Pokémon," said Mark, "Also tell things are alright, I hope we have some fresher clothes in the morning."

Ash laughed, "Yeah!"

**. . .**

Merle dragged his feet against the tile floor, glancing around the bathroom. The lights came on without warning and stunned him, his eyes adjusted by reducing the red glow. With the room remarkably much brighter, Merle got a better view of where he was at. The floor had camping toilets pushed up against the floor, seemingly used well. But they weren't the source of the smell, it was too fresh. It was coming from the far end of the stall.

Brain stem activity jumped dramatically, Merle let out soft moans as he approached the stall. He gave the door a slight nudge, it was locked. No problem, he never let locked doors bar his way even in life. Merle tightened the grip of his fire ax and stepped back, and gave the stall door a solid kick near the latch. It flew right open.

**. . .**

The stall door slammed against the wall, jarring Max wide awake. He was fully alert when a zombie in a fireman uniform loomed over him like a monster in the closet. It raised a fire ax and swung for a decisive chop. Max dove towards the floor, the fire ax struck where he sat and snapped the toilet seat in half.

Oh no, he screamed in his head, oh no!

Max slipped underneath the stalls and made a run for the door, but he tripped over one of the camping toilets and hit his knee hard on the ground. He felt it pop, Max tried to put weight on it but pain shot through it. He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

**. . .**

"What was that?" Mark asked.

Ash got up and drew his pistol, "That sound's like Max!"

Wally drew his gun, "Where's the screaming coming from!?"

"Sound's like the bathroom!" said Misty.

**. . .**

Merle waste no time, he took big steps and rushed over to his prey. Just as it was getting back up, Merle raised the spike end and jammed it into this prey's back. It thrashed its arms and legs, screaming even louder as blood gushed out his back. Merle ripped out the fire ax and drop to his knees, then grabbed his prey by the arm.

**. . .**

Wally kicked open the bathroom door, Ash peered passed him and froze. A zombie wearing a firefighter uniform had pinned Max down, tearing a chunk of flesh off with its teeth. Before Ash could react, Wally charged in with his pistol. The zombie looked up and saw who was coming, it shot a stiff arm up and grabbed the gun. It discharged into the back wall. Wally struggled to gain control, but the zombie head butted him. He stumbled backwards and tripped, he shot up his hands and realized they were empty.

The zombie gotten hold of the gun, and it aimed at Wally. It squeezed a trigger, striking Wally in the shoulder. Ash raised his gun and aimed at its head.

BOOM!

The zombie's head exploded, huge chunks of brain matter and black blood shot back. It let out a final moan as it slumped backwards, it was dead before it hit the floor.

Ash held up his gun and checked it, he didn't fire it. He turned and saw it was Mark, holding up a .357 magnum still smoking from the barrel.

He lowered the gun and shook his head, "Damn." he muttered.

Ash checked Wally, the police officer clamped a hand over the bleeding wound on his shoulder, "I'm okay," he said, "It just grazed me."

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

Ash turned his attention to a crying Max, who laid helpless as he bled heavily on the floor. Their was a bite on his forearm and a bleeding wound on his back, blood pooled around him. A bloodied fire ax laid next to him, Ash realized what had happened. He shook his head and turned to Brock, his old friend simply shook his head. They knew what must be done.

Wally pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and put pressure on the bullet wound, "Damn zombie shot me with my own gun, are they getting smarter?"

"Looks like it," said Mark, "The zombie's uniform clothes seemed a little fresh, like he put it on recently."

Mark peered at the corpse and examined his face, "By f*cken Arceus, it's Merle, or was Merle."

"You know him?" Ash asked.

Mark turned to him, "He's my cousin. Well, my dad's cousin. I don't know him personally, but I had seen a few photos of him and Dad barely mentions him."

"I didn't recognized him," said Wally, "Damn, he helped me get my keys out of my car 3 months ago!"

"Max!"

Ash jumped out of the way in time as May came running through, Professor Oak was behind her, he too had that same look Brock had.

"Max," said May as she cradled his head, "Max, it's okay. It's okay!"

"Put an end to it," Max pleaded, his voice sounded weak, "Please, end it!"

"You don't know what you're saying! Listen to me, Max, you don't know what you're saying!"

"May," said Brock, "He's either going to die from the blood loss or the bite, he's done either way."

May shot a look at Brock, "We'd traveled together and saved each other's lives, and you're saying we can't make it easy on my brother!?"

"It's not easy for all of us, Dawn had a better chance than Max. She turned by the time we got here! None of us don't want another repeat!"

As Brock and May argued, Ash was caught in the grasp of a paradox. Either stop Max's bleeding or let him bleed to death, then shoot him, or shoot him now. There was no peaceful way for Max to die, it would be a gruesome inhumane death.

People just don't die anymore. . .

"We buy Max time," Ash interrupted, May and Brock turned towards him, "We patch up his wounds, so we can say goodbye. Then we take care of him."

"We have all night," said Mark, "Sunrise is just 4 hours away."

Brock glanced at Max for a moment, then nodded, "I'll go get the gauze."

**. . .**

The propane tank stopped hissing, its contents flowing around the room. Nurse Joy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the smell of rotten eggs stung her nostrils. Here her Chanseys and Audinos, her loyal and loving assistance, cry and whimper from the lost of society. So much death. So much loss. They wanted an end, the nightmares won't stop.

Nurse Joy knew how to treat this permanent depression. In normal times, she wouldn't even give a single thought to it. But society was dead, and the world driven deep into madness. Everybody was dying and coming back, everything was deteriorating and withering away to nothing. Nurse Joy knew her job in being an actual nurse was over. There were no more Pokémon to cure illnesses with herbs, no more feeding Pokémon, no more fixing broken bones. Just patching up stumps of what was left of amputated limbs and treating the infamous zombie bites.

Even if they weren't bitten, they turn, and become Undead. Several people and Pokémon died in this Pokémon Center in the past month, most came back, and all were shot in the head. . .

The head, that was needed to be taken care of.

Nurse Joy held up the .32 pistol and examined it, she scanned every part of its silvery surface as she pulled the hammer back with a thumb. She thought about it as long as her mind could think, Nurse Joy eventually wore out every brain cell and made up her mind. The Pokémon Center Pikachus would miss her greatly, that Tesla Westinghouse would take good care of them. She couldn't handle Pokémon anymore, not even her own. Nurse Joy's responsibilities had dried up and crumbled to dust, like the Pokémon gyms of the world. It was time.

She placed the barrel in her mouth, then exert all her strength on the trigger.

**. . .**

As if the Pokémon Center was lifted up in the air by a magic hand and dropped, it trembled and shook with extreme power. The air inside the room simply caught fire, everybody inside was burned to a crisp. The door was blown open by the sheer pressure, flames poured into the hallway like a tsunami and charred everything it touched. The two windows were also blown out, taking a part of the wall with them. The entire room and parts of the hallway was destroyed in an instant.

Anyone who was sleeping stirred and scrambled to their feet, the lights flickered madly as the floor shook beneath their feet. On the first floor, everybody froze and looked up as the Pokémon Center cricked and pop. The shaking almost brought them to the floor.

The blast was enough to wake Tesla and the Pokémon Center Pikachus, their eyes shot open almost all at once. By the time they woke, the shaking had stop and the lights flickered back to normal.

"Holy crap," Tesla muttered, "Did you feel that?"

The Pikachus nodded.

"Damn."

He quickly went back to sleep as fast as he woke.

**TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	43. Ch 43: It Takes One Bullet

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice:**** For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLIII_

_It Takes One Bullet_

Around morning, the survivors surveyed the extent of the damage. The front face of the Pokémon Center had the worst damage. Bullet holes pop-marked its face, multiple windows were blown out, huge chunks of the building, including the entrance, was blown up by the cursed RPGs. The sides of the Pokémon Center seemed intact, around the back the windows where the explosion occurred were clearly marked with soot. They look like pimples burned off with a soldering iron.

The sea of bodies was staggering, it stretched as far as the end of the block, around the far ends of the rectangle. A massive fire pit was quickly erected, bodies and wood were piled up on top of each other than doused with ethanol. A single match set off the controlled inferno whose heat can be felt inside the Pokémon Center.

Ash watched as the survivors piled up the bodies, his eyes were puffy and dark with fatigue and sleep deprivation. He didn't sleep at all last night, neither did his Pikachu. The fear of explosions, bandits, and the Undead was so great that sleep only brought a replay of the horror. He didn't bother changing his clothes, eventually the blood dried and reeked of death. Ash didn't notice, the whole air stink of death with all the rotters lying around. Pikachu sat on his shoulder and looked on with depressed eyes, watching the tongues of flames dance in the air as they consumed their grotesque food.

Delia approached her son and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ash," she said, "Son?"

Ash turned to her with a paranoid look in his eye, he didn't say anything, he just stared at his mom with a blank look on his face.

"Ash," said Delia, "You're not alone."

"I know, mom," said Ash, his voice devoid of emotion, "I know."

Delia turned towards the pile of burning bodies, it churned up black smoke as the survivors piled up more wood and other debris that can burn. The column of smoke towered over Carson, so thick that it cast a shadow, "Last night I wished we were home," said Delia, "Back to Pallet Town and enjoying the peace and quiet, and mingle with our friends and neighbors without a care in the world. I remember how you tied a rope around Pikachu's waist and drag him out of the house, the neighbors couldn't stop laughing about it."

Pikachu let out a tired smile and blushed, "Pika."

"Had I knew something like this was going to happen," said Ash, "I wouldn't have run to Professor Oak's lab in my pajamas in the first place, all those memories feel like it happened centuries ago."

Delia frowned, "If you hadn't left, you wouldn't have much of a life."

Ash nodded, "At least I had my chance and spent it well, I feel the accomplishments and friends I gained throughout my journey slowly degrade, bit by bit, piece by piece. I don't know how long it would be before it will be all gone."

"Max isn't doing well, he made it through the rest of the night but his strength. . ."

Delia's voice trailed off. Max's wounds were cleaned and patched with gauze, but the infection had already took hold. Somewhere in the Pokémon Center, under the watchful eye of Wally, May was spending every last-minute with her brother has his life slip away. She didn't say anything, nor ate her rations, May wanna be present when her brother passes. She and Max weren't there when they lose their parents, all they had left were each other. For May, Max was the last family member she would ever see.

Ash turned and started for the entrance, "Let's check up on Tesla."

The two head upstairs, along the way they passed by survivors carrying large backpacks and camping gear. Everybody was packing their bags and leaving, it was a mass exodus. Remnants of the Carson Police Department had several safehouses planned all over town, these safehouses would be connected to each other via radio and would coordinate a mass effort to defend the town. There was a plan to build a wall around Carson once everybody got settled in. Ash and his friends wouldn't be around to see it happen though, they have their own safehouse to shelter in.

Just when they approached the room Tesla was in, a door opened in front of them. Jessie, James, and Meowth stepped out. They were carrying large backpacks, Jessie and James carried submachine guns as Meowth carried a pistol. The Scratch Cat Pokémon gave Pikachu a look, Pikachu returned it. Meowth jumped and advert his eyes quickly.

"Leaving too?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," said James, his voice was blunt but calm, "We're leaving."

"Where you heading?"

"Somewhere away from zombies and cities, we're quite on our own now."

"HQ didn't call?"

"We never heard a peep since day one," said Jessie, "I doubt we ever get word from them at all."

"And where you and your friends going?" Meowth asked.

"In the middle of nowhere," Ash answered, "Like your plan."

James raised an eyebrow, "Looks like we don't have much to hold against you now."

"What?"

"Pikachu?" asked Pikachu.

"The Boss is probably dead," said Meowth, "Which means we no longer have a reason to steal your Pikachu."

The Mouse Pokémon angrily grinned his teeth as he glared at Meowth, "Pika." he growled under his breath.

"So," Meowth went on, "all the other Pikachus here stirred up. Everyone of them said you chopped off Tesla's tail, and it was quite a mess."

"The Undead bit him on the tail," said Ash, "Did you hear him scream?"

"Everyone did, next thing I know he was rushed up here covered in his own blood."

"How's Max?" James asked.

"He's done for."

"You don't seem to sensitive about it." said Jessie, noting the passive tone in Ash's voice.

"Dawn turned and tried to eat me when we got her here, they shot her in front of me. We all saw it, that's how we know the bites sign death certificates."

"We went poking around earlier today," said James, "and found that all Dawn's remaining Pokémon . . . you know."

A chill went down Ash's spine, "What happened?"

"They opted out," said Meowth, "A bloodied pistol among their corpses in a closet in the fifth floor."

"We planned to get a hold of some Pokémon," said James, "for sanity's sake. It's our jobs, you know. All we got were dead Pokémon. To come to think of it, I hadn't seen a lot of Undead Pokémon out there."

"They're all in the forests, waiting to pounce on anything coming their way."

"Might as well stick to the rail roads," said James, "we better go. I suppose this is our goodbye."

"Take care Team Rocket."

"Pikachu." Pikachu muttered.

James shook his head, "I don't think we're Team Rocket anymore, our careers were gone like everybody's dreams."

The trio walked past Ash, saying nothing more. When the trio disappeared in the emergency stairwell, Delia asked, "Would we see them again?"

Ash shook his head, "I'm not so sure, probably not."

They walked into the room and found the Pokémon Center Pikachus surrounding the elder one. Tesla laid in a cot, sleeping the day away as members of his own kind watched over him. One Pikachu stroke Tesla's ears, muttering pleas as tears trailed down its cheek. Professor Oak sat in a chair reading an old magazine, he looked up and saw Ash and Delia walked in, "He's been sleeping since last night," said Professor Oak, "I . . . I don't know if he's going to turn."

"Is he going to be alright?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" his Pikachu muttered.

"He should," said the professor, "He might-"

Tesla stirred and let out a moan, the Pokémon Center Pikachus jumped and crowd around him, waiting to see how he'll react. The old Pikachu opened his eyes, they were soft, relaxed, and quite weak. His eyes met Ash's, Tesla took a deep breath and let out a soft smile, "Are you alright?" the Mouse Pokémon asked.

Ash smiled, "Hey, I'm supposed to ask you that!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

"Well, I couldn't have lived without you. By the way, how long was I out?"

"5 hours," said Delia, "It's eight-oh-clock."

"Geez, I feel so tired. Did I crap myself when the zombies snared me?"

"Uh, yes. You did."

Tesla chuckled, "Henry always wanted to see that, he never forgave me from kidnapping his Raichu. I wished I would come to terms with him before he turned . . ."

His voice trailed off for a moment, "I did come to terms with Raichu . . . I miss the fat bastard, you know Mark's Emolga loves hugging him?"

Ash shook his head, "No."

Tesla grinned, "You should ask Mark about it some time."

The old Pikachu sat up, his back popped as he flexed his joints. His hand hovered where his tail once been, which was now reduced to a bandaged stump, "I've always hated that tail," said Tesla, "Funny, I can still feel it. Phantom limb is always creepy."

"Are you going to be okay?" Ash asked.

"My heart hurts, the stress and shock is still fresh. I'm old Ash, way older than Professor Oak here. I just . . . don't know how long I could go on."

"Pika. . ." muttered the Pokémon Center Pikachus.

Tesla flopped back his head back on the pillow, "I'm just so tired, I don't feel like moving at all," he looked back up at Ash, "Ash, you gather your friends and head on out without me."

"What?" Ash asked.

Tesla gestured to the Pokémon Center Pikachus, "For all I know, all the Pikachus still alive on this island sits in this very room. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up, I planned to bring these Pikachus back to the ranch with me."

"You sure you can handle the forest?" Professor Oak asked.

"I handled 500 kilometers of ocean, I think I can handle a forest full of walking dead."

The Pokémon Center Pikachus stepped aside as Ash got on his knees, he placed a hand on Tesla's shoulder and sighed, "Max's bit."

Tesla shut his eyes and looked away, "He was only a boy, he's only six. Sh*t, man."

"The Walker who bit him happened to be one of Mark's dad's cousin, the zombie defended himself when we tried to put him down. It shot Wally with his own gun, he survived. Mark put him down with the .357 revolver."

"The same gun that killed Iris's Emolga," Tesla added, "It must be Merle Kissinger, I saw him a few times during my late Westinghouse days. We weren't close. But, damn. He had put down enough family members already."

Ash got back up and stretched his arms, "I'm going to go check on the others, I'll be right back."

"Don't leave without me knowing," said Tesla, "You know how the world is."

"We're not leaving that soon, we have Max to take care of."

"Whatever happens, have May put Max down. Give her a pistol, load it with only 2 rounds. One for Max, the other . . . just in case she want to end it all."

"Tesla." Delia began.

Tesla cut her off, "If my trainer or my own mother killed themselves in front of me because of the zombie apocalypse, I would understand. I rather see all that, instead of putting them down when they turn. Even if they still remember you, they're still long gone. You either understand it or you don't, it takes one bullet in the head to stop reanimation from happening."

Ash heard the small scampering of feet behind him. Before he knew it, a Pikachu zipped past him at the speed of light and dive bombed on Tesla. Then an Emolga followed, then a Plusle, and a Minun. They all clobbered the old Pikachu, cheering as they cried tears of joy. Tesla pushed his great-granddaughter out of his face and laughed, "Good to see you guys."

"Pika!" Mark's Pikachu chirped.

Mark came in the room, seemingly in a good mood. He watched as his Pokémon hugged and kissed Tesla, then dance around him in a mini celebration.

"I told them what had happened," said Mark, "They saw me ran down the hall with you in my arms. They didn't sleep well last night, they worry that you weren't going to make it."

"I couldn't blame them," said Tesla, he reached out and massaged Emolga's cheek with a thumb. The Sky Squirrel Pokémon cooed and smile as she urge Tesla to rub deeper, "I was so close to death, I bet they heard my scream."

"They did, scared them stiff."

Plusle snuggled underneath Tesla's arm, the old Pikachu tucked her by his side and gave her a little noogie, "Who treated me?" he asked.

"Nurse Joy," said Mark, "Right after patching you up, she took you to the other Pikachus here. Then went back to the operating room and filled it with gas before shooting herself in the head. The flash from the gun lit the gas, killing all the Audinos and Chanseys in a fiery burn."

"That explosion woke me up, somehow I went back to sleep without any problems."

"Are you going to live?"

"I don't have a fever and my nub isn't necrotic, I'll live."

Mark turned to Ash, his smile dropped as he went to more pressing issues, "Max just coughed up blood, black blood. Time's running out, Ash, we don't know what to do. F*ck, he's just a young boy. The news alone would kill his mother if she were here."

"I got a plan," said Ash, "But I don't like it, and neither would you."

Mark sighed, "I hope it works, I'm open for ideas."

**. . .**

He was ghostly pale, like every drop of blood was drained out of his body. The bite on his arm was well bandaged, with antiseptic and antibiotics applied. But it did no good, the area around the bandages had turned was gangrenous. The best medicine, not even amputation of the infected limb, wouldn't be enough to save him. He was on Death's door, and it was letting him in. Max would soon die and become a shell of his former self, a vicious flesh-eating monster in the form of a young child. It couldn't get any more horrifying than that.

His breathing became shallow, weak, his wheezing sounded eerie similar to asthma. May cradled him in her arms, stroking his hair as he slowly grew weak. Ash reached out and touched his shoulder, he withdrew his hand, Max was cold to the touch. Brock stuck a thermometer in the boy's mouth and took his temperature, after a few minutes he pulled it out to see the results, "22 degrees Centigrade," he shook his head as he pulled off the infected plastic protection off the thermometer's tip and tossed it in the trash can, "That's room temperature."

Brock picked up Max's hand and placed a finger over his wrist, "No pulse, not even a shallow heartbeat."

"Normally they would get a fever then die," said Professor Oak, "It looks like he's skipping death altogether, going straight to Undeath."

"He'll turn at any minute," said Mark, "Once his higher cognitive processes cease, he's completely turn."

"How you know?" Misty asked.

"I did research on the Undead for years, the books say that this form of zombification means Max had given up. If he had any strength, the plague wouldn't be so merciful to him. Right now, its making the turning process easy on him. He no longer feels any pain, he'll turn into a zombie as peacefully as falling asleep."

"Then the violent part begins." Ash added.

"Much worse than that," said Mark, "There's a good chance Max would remember us when he's fully turned, but that's just dead nerve instincts," He turned to May and asked, "What's his eyes look like?"

May reached up and pulled off his glasses, she handed it to Brock before pulling back one of Max's eyelids, "All red, like all the blood vessels had ruptured. I think I can see a faint red glow."

Brock bent down and shined an orthoscope in Max's eye, "There's a glow alright, not enough to light the room but it's there. Time's up."

"Excuse me for a moment." said Ash.

Ash walked into the next room and drew his gun, he pulled out the magazine and stripped all but two bullets. He slid it back in and chambered the gun, then flipped the safety on, "Pika Pika?" his Pikachu asked, he too sounded like he was going to cry.

"Might as well get over it now, Pikachu," said Ash, "If we don't, we'll loose more than we have to."

Ash returned to the group, he held the pistol by the barrel and held it up to May. May looked at it, almost with curiosity, she knew what it was for, "How many do I get?" she asked.

"Two," said Ash, "One for Max, the other . . . you know."

"You can't be serious!?" Cilan cried.

"He is," said Mark, "I know how this is going to go down, she's going to use it on herself and Max turns. Come on guys, it ain't Max we have to worry about. He's finished. It's May who we have to worry about!"

Delia gave Ash a look, she opened her mouth to say something but it didn't come out. She stepped back and looked away, like she was ashamed of him. May got up to her feet, she hoist her brother on one arm and took the gun, "Thank you, Ash. You were always a help when you were there."

"Take him around back so no one would see," said Ash, "You must do it fast, Walkers might be still around. Once you get it done, leave him there and come back in. We'll take care of him. If you decide the easy way out . . . we'll take care of you both."

"Axew . . ." Axew muttered in Iris's arms.

"Pan . . ." Pansage hid behind Cilan and looked away.

May gave Ash a big hug and kissed him on the cheek, he blushed, "My parents would understand. I know my mom well, she would opt out and leave us to turn."

Mark run his hand through his hair and sighed, "I knew I should have taken that psychology class."

"I suppose this is goodbye?" Brock asked.

No one answered him.

May hugged all her friends and head off outside, carrying Max's near lifeless body and the gun with her. Ash and his friends watched as May stepped out the main entrance and disappeared as he make a turn.

"You know," said Mark, "My own mother was a country girl. She grew up in the farm somewhere on the island and met my father when they were teenagers. My dad claimed she was like a rose giving life to a barren wasteland."

Mark sat down in a chair as his Pokémon huddled on his lap, he rubbed Emolga's ears as he continued, "Tesla knew her well, he liked her more than he liked my dad at the time. My mom would often play with Tesla and he would lick all over her face, she was one of the few people he had ever completely opened up to. I was born two years after Irvin died and Tesla mysteriously disappeared. My parent's never planned to have a baby, they were like, in their twenties at the time.

"Result, they married after they figured out my conception. Right after I was born, people started stirring up trouble for Tesla. Once he was officially an outlaw, my dad wound up being placed in charge of capturing or killing him since he knew Tesla well, and he was only a rookie in the police force at the time. He and my mother were having problems and disagreements long before that fateful day, so when my dad broke the news. She simply packed their things, moved to Unova, and left me with my father.

Mark then looked at Delia, "I never knew her name, never knew what she looked like. Dad stashed all the pictures of her somewhere, and I was too lazy to go looking for them. This is one of the reasons why me and Tesla have disagreements and a rivalry, because he always teased that he slept with her and done stuff I don't wish to think about."

"Emo." Emolga muttered.

Mark then turned back to the others, "Would I ever know her fate? Chances are, she's dead. I have no doubt about it. I don't know about you guys and your parents, but I can tell you that I had never met my mother and my father cut me loose once the apocalypse started. With Henry and Carley dead, I don't know who to fight for. Besides you guys, all I have left are my Pokémon, and that old fart of a Pikachu whose ass I saved last night. I essentially have no human friends and relatives from Faraday Island to look out for, just you guys."

"I never knew my father," said Ash, "Last I heard he was still on his journey, he could be thinking of this as well if he lasted this long."

Mark smiled, "You understand! I knew you're the only person I could count on when you showed up on my doorstep that day with a puzzled look on your face. Henry praised you and Carley had some feelings for you, I know because I read her diary. Normally I would be jealous out the ass, but I rather be annoyed at Tesla than anyone else. I don't want any more rivals beyond Tesla."

"Carley had a crush on me?" Ash asked.

"One of those paradox moments I have yet to understand, happened to my mother as well with Tesla's case. It's common on Faraday Island, more common than any other part of the world."

A gunshot cracked outside, Ash jumped and clutched his Pikachu. Despite being used to the sound, this one frightened him. Ash didn't know why, there was something about it that struck his core like a freight train. Mark got up as Emolga climbed up on his shoulder, silence held the air with a firm hand. Ash glanced at his friends, they were looking at him. His Pikachu also looked at him, eyes glittering with tears.

"So," said Ash, breaking the silence, "Now what?"

Brock pulled out his pistol and checked the ammo, "Let's go check up on May, that sound might-"

A second shot rang out.

Pikachu gasped.

"Damn." muttered Mark.

The group ran outside and circled the Pokémon Center, they all stopped cold in their tracks. Eyes bulged. Blood froze. Minds locked in horror. Ash unconsciously placed a hand over Pikachu's eyes, but his remained fixed.

Max laid on his back, a bullet hole in his forehead. His sister laid next to him faced down, fresh blood oozed out where her scalp had been. The gun itself laid between them, its slide locked open.

Without taking his eyes off the bodies, Ash handed Pikachu to his mom before approaching them. He picked up the gun and pulled out the empty magazine, then holstered the gun. Ash pocketed the magazine and crouched down. He noticed May's eyes were still open, they stared blankly out into space. Ash held out his hand and closed them.

He took a moment to remember the adventures they had in Hoenn. It felt like a lifetime ago. Ash wasn't sure how long, but it felt so far away that no mode of travel could reach it. They were just memories from another time, another era . . . A tear streaked down his cheek, Ash tilted his head so the bill of his camouflaged hat shaded his eyes from the morning sun. It was over for them, May and Max were gone. He couldn't believe he hadn't spent much time with them since the start of the apocalypse, they had distanced themselves from everybody so well that no one give much thought. In some way, that felt worse than them actually dying. But why?

"How close were you and Ash to them?" Ash heard Mark say.

"Close friends," said Brock, "Should we get him."

"I'm coming." Ash called out as he stood up.

He returned to his friends, he spoke with a soft touch of grief, "Let's . . . go pack up."

Within moments, other survivors ran to the back and saw the bodies. They stared at them for a moment, their faces showed no emotion, no sign of their humanity. Desensitized by the zombie raid last night, they just saw May and Max as another body. They didn't bother covering them up, they just picked them up and threw them on top of each other, then dump the corpses of Undead over them. They doused the pile with butane fluid and threw in a lit match, the pile quickly went up in flames. One survivor reached down and picked up May's bandana, it was coated with blood and soot, simply reduced to rags. He threw it in the fire, it went up in smoke within seconds.

Ash saw enough, he turned and head back into the Pokémon Center. His friends silently followed behind.

**TO**** BE CONTINUED. . .**


	44. Ch 44: Ketchum-22

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLIV_

_Ketchum-22_

Team Rocket saw the whole thing from a window, how may cradled Max, how she shot him, how she ended it all on the spot. These twerps were sworn rivals, but the trio couldn't help but feel sympathy for them. James checked his gun, a 2mm Ruger with a 10 ammo clip, then hoisted the military backpack on his back.

He turned to Jessie and asked, "What are we, Jessie?"

Jessie gave him a look, "What do you mean?"

James shook his head and pointed out the window, "These Undead, you'd seen what they'd done. They destroyed society, devastated the world. Any death just makes more of them and robbed others of reason. Look what it done to the twerps, I could barely recognize them. Ash in particular."

That look Ash had in his eye was a far cry from the Pokémon trainer he used to be. He pointed a gun at the trio's faces, right at the verge of shooting them. Pikachu was no different, he was more aggressive and more paranoid since their last meet. The Boss might not want a Pikachu with that attitude, he might have him put down the moment he gets him.

"I don't wanna go near them," said Jessie, "They've lost a lot, any grudges they might have would explode if we gave them a simple wave and smile."

"So what do we do now?" Meowth asked.

James ran his fingers through his hair and said, "I don't know, we could-"

"Jessie and James?"

The Team Rocket trio turned and saw Luke, standing at the door, he slammed it shut and locked it, "I'm Luke Natas," he began, "I'm a high-ranking officer of Team Rocket."

He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, displaying a Team Rocket elite badge. The trio's eyes bulged out their skulls.

"I'm going to make this clear as possible," said Natas, "Giovanni is dead."

"What?" Jessie and James asked in unison, stammering under their breath.

Natas shook his head, "He perished some time before the outbreak, I don't know how but . . . yeah, he's gone."

"How do you know, bub!?" Meowth snarled, barely containing his temper.

Natas pulled out a communicator, it was a standard Team Rocket issue, "The new boss had taken over some time during the first few days of the outbreak. I've been keeping touch with him in the past month. A new Team Rocket HQ had been established to handle the Undead threat, he had sent an Osprey to Faraday Island to come pick you guys up."

Giovanni's dead? And a new boss taken over? The trio felt a chill ran down their spines. They weren't surprise that the Boss had died, due to the circumstances. But _before _the apocalypse? Something wasn't right. Yet again, Natas was quite legitimate. No signs of foul play."

"Why should we believe you?" Meowth hissed.

Natas frowned, "Cause I'm the only chance you've got. You're going to die on this damn rock because you don't have a plan and running blind. Another zombie horde is on its way as we speak, this town isn't going to make it. Don't believe me? Go on the roof, the smell's attracting the hordes from every corner of the island. We must hurry, we don't have much time!"

Jessie and James turned to each others, their faces turning white. James turn back to Natas and said, "Can you give us a minute?"

Natas nodded, "You've got 5 minutes."

The "senior" Team rocket officer unlocked the door and stepped out, when it closed Meowth spoke up.

"I don't like this guy," he snorted, "He waited till the Pokémon Center gets raided before he let us in on his secret."

"He has a good reason to keep it a secret from us, "James interjected, "The folks here trust him, the twerps trust him, the yokels trust him, it would be grave to have any suspicion if they all _knew _he was a member of Team Rocket."

Meowth shrugged, "Well, is he legit?"

"I did hear his name come up twice back at HQ," Jessie brought up, "He's definitely a member."

"The only question now are what's his intentions," said James, "And what the new boss has in store with us."

There was a moment of silence. Yes, they didn't had any plan. They were poorly equipped and lacking any knowledge of the island. The yokels knew Team Rocket well enough, they might try to kill them and feed their gore to the Walkers on the suspicion they committed any wrong doing. Ash clearly won't take them in to their group, the twerps had enough of the problems they'd cause . . . so what other opens do the trio had?

None.

"Okay," Meowth said, "Let's give Natas a chance, what about it, guys?"

"We got no other option," said James, "And I do miss Mime Jr., maybe he's at the new HQ."

Jessie gave it a second thought, then grabbed her backpack, "Screw it," she said, "Lets go all in, I hate this island anyway."

**. . .**

Ash stuffed his backpack with all the ammo he could carry, he crammed boxes of .22, .12 gauge, 9mm, and 5.56mm into the bag till it stretched at the seams. He wasn't worried about packing food or water, they had plenty of that at the farmhouse. Only ammunition was a worry, cause there was no telling how long it would last.

Once his backpack was packed, Ash turned to his Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon sat on the bed, staring off into space. He looked so depressed that it made Ash's heart sore. He sat his backpack on the floor and sat beside his Pokémon, then rubbed its ears. Pikachu tilted his head, guiding Ash's hand to scratch the sweet spots. After a few minutes of scratching, the Mouse Pokémon suddenly looked up at him. His eyes glittered with sorrow.

"Pika." he whimpered as he pressed his head against his trainer's side.

"Please don't be sad, Pikachu," said Ash in a soft voice, "Please?"

Pikachu didn't respond, he just stared out towards the corner of the room and sat there. Ash picked him up and cradled his head, a tear trailed down Pikachu's cheek. Ash wiped it away with a corner of the bed's comforter, he sat it aside and rubbed Pikachu's head, "Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika?"

"It's not over, there's still hope. I know many of us didn't make it, I'm just as sad as you are. Those things got Tesla, but I stopped the sickness from spreading."

Ash paused for a moment, giving time for the thought to sink in, "I didn't let that gruesome fate happen to him, I saved his life. Pikachu, I won't let those things get to you, not on my watch. I don't wanna to see you suffer that fate."

His words seem like it fell on deaf ears, Pikachu just turned away without saying a word.

Ash sighed and sat him back on the bed, he got up and glanced at the nearby wall. He clenched all his rage into a fist and punched it, the wall stood no chance as his fist plowed through the dry wall, spewing dust everywhere. Ash pulled his hand out and examined it, then glanced at the wall. Dust and particles still drop from the freshly made hole, chances are it would never be repaired like everything else.

"You're not alone, Pikachu," he said, still staring at the hole, "I want you to know that, you are _not _alone. I'll be with you till the end and even after, it's not over until it's over."

He turned back to Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon sat upright, letting out a crooked smile. With his eyes ready to shed tears, he stood up on his hind legs and chirped, "Pikachu!"

The door suddenly burst open and Professor Oak ran through, "Ash," he said, his voice sounding grave, "You gotta see this, it's Snivy!"

Ash felt his face turn white, "What happened, is she bit!?"

"Pika Pika!?" cried Pikachu.

Oak shook his head, "No, its something else. Hard to explain, you gotta see it for yourself!"

Ash and Pikachu followed Professor Oak down the hall, almost running. Ash wondered what was his Pokémon been doing during the attack. Unfezant was somewhere outside, doing whatever. But he had no clue what his other Pokémon were up to. The Undead must had scared them senseless, and Snivy might got the worst of it.

_What happened to her? _He asked himself.

After running past several survivors with backpacks loaded with supplies, they made it to the third floor. Tesla was standing there, helped up by a Pokémon Center Pikachu as he stared into an open doorway. As Ash approached, Tesla glanced at him. The old Pikachu advancing age was finally taking hold. His eyes were sunken in, his fur was becoming white. In fact, there was a spot on his side that had a patch of bare skin. Ash tried not to stare at his tail stump, he quickly asked, "What happened?"

Tesla snickered with a neutral face, "Snivy had a little too much."

Ash peered into the room, his brain tried in vain to process the confusion he saw inside. Snivy laid face down on the floor, surrounded with bottles of different types of alcohol. Oshawott was yammering away, sounding like he was trying to talk some sense into her. Pignite and Scraggy stood by, they didn't appear to be interested, their faces were calm as they watch the scene unfold.

"Osha Oshawott!" Oshawott cried.

Snivy pried open and eye and looked at Oshawott, it was red around the sides, a sign of a massive hangover. The Grass Snake Pokémon sat up and glared at the Sea Otter Pokémon, "Snivy Sniv?" she asked.

"Osh," Oshawott muttered, "Osha-"

A vine shot up and slapped Oshawott square in the face, he tumbled backward and collapsed on the floor. He moaned as his eyes fixed themselves into spirals. Snivy simply grabbed a nearby beer bottle and drank down its contents, she let out a belch and sat against the wall, scratch her side with a free hand.

"What in the world?" Ash asked himself.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Oshawott was trying to talk some sense into Snivy," said Tesla, "He wasn't very persuasive."

"Osha." Oshawott muttered, he sat up and placed a hand on his cheek. It throbbed pink from Snivy's Vine Whip.

Scraggy helped Oshawott up and took him out of the room, Ash stepped forward and said, "Snivy?"

Snivy through the bottle at Ash, he jumped back. The bottle clattered against the floor and rolled up against the wall with loud glassy pings, somehow not shattering, "Sniv," Snivy hissed, her eyes droop in an angry drunken expression as she pointed a finger at him, "Snivy Snivy Sni."

"She said we're f*cked," said Tesla, "We're all f*cked."

"Snivy Snivy Sniv," she grumbled, slurring her words, "Snivy Snivy, Snivy Snivy Sniv!"

"What?" Ash asked.

"She said that the world is f*cked," Tesla translated, "She also said that so was Pokémon battling is dead."

"Snivy Snivy Sniv, Snivy . . . Snivy Sniv!?"

Tesla shook his head, "She claims that she and your other Pokémon no longer has any value to you, Ash. She wanna know why does she still have to listen to you?"

"Sniv!" Snivy let out a sporadic cry before flopping face first on the floor, knocking over more alcohol bottles in the process.

Ash watched one of the bottles rolled towards Pignite's feet, the Fire Pig Pokémon stepped back. He turn to Ash, his eyes widen with disbelief.

"Ash," said Tesla, "How did you acquire Snivy in the first place?"

"I caught her in the wild," said Ash, "She put up a tough fight, but I got her."

"So she resisted."

"Yes, she did."

"That's explains it then, whatever grudges she had about you is now out and burning in full force. If zombies weren't in the equation, Snivy would had deserted you long ago."

Snivy placed both hands on the floor and pushed herself back up, she held her head down and whimpered. Tears trailed down her face as she silently cried, Ash reached out and picked her up. She pressed her face against his chest and sobbed, "Snivy Sni."

"She said help us." said Tesla.

"I'm doing what I can, Snivy," said Ash as he brushed a finger against her head, "There can only be so much that I can do."

"Sni." she muttered.

"Look, we're getting out of Carson. The bad news is we're leaving today and we're going on foot. Its going to be a bit of a walk, I can hold you along the way if you want."

Snivy shook her head, "Sni."

"I already told them I'm lagging behind," said Tesla, "Is your friend's packed?"

"I think they're just about done." said Ash.

"Well, Ash, gather your group and I'll gather mine. Don't wait for me, okay?"

"I won't."

**. . .**

Ash's Pokémon hobbled behind him. They stuck close, Oshawott in particular. Ash carried Snivy in his arms as he head down the emergency stairwell, Pikachu sat on his shoulder, hanging on tight. Just when Ash reached the bottom floor, Professor Oak stopped him, "Ash," he said, "You have a moment?"

Ash turned to Professor Oak, "Yeah."

Ash and his Pokémon stopped and turned to Professor Oak, he wasted no time getting out what he had to say, "I'm not sure what to make of you now, nor your mother. According to your friends, you wiped out those bandits trying to harm your group. You had the heart to capture one of them alive, yet you grabbed a sniper rifle and taken out a lot more bandits in defending the Pokémon Center.

"Then you chopped off Tesla's tail. You didn't even hesitate, you did what you have to do and the old Pikachu was thankful for it."

"He's tough to read at times." said Ash.

"Ash," said Professor Oak, "I know you've changed since day one, we all did, but you changed the most. When I first see you running up to me in your pajamas that day, you were full of life, ready to start your adventure. This morning, I saw you walking down that hall with a blank stare. Among your friends, me, and your mother, you were in the worst state. I know that your dreams had been crushed, but deep down, you're still the same person. You love your friends and protected them, even if your relationships to them looked like they're falling apart. I know I wasn't there to see you handle that machine gun, but your Pokémon had. You've protected them and kept them alive. You still have hope, I can tell."

"Professor," said Ash, "I lost all hope when I saw Gary. I _hesitated _to put him down, even though we both never got along it was still hard. You've seen what Piplup looked like when he crawled in here, Gary was just like that. I couldn't do it, I didn't wanna do it. But I did. I feel like we're all doomed regardless if we rebuilt society and bring back Pokémon battling, cause every death . . . makes more Undead."

Professor Oak shook his head, "While I was monitoring Tesla's health, he told me that he's afraid. He's old, and so am I. He reminded me if it's our time . . ."

He stopped short for a moment, letting the thought sink in, "You know."

Ash sighed, "I hope I don't drop dead at the end of this."

The two chuckled at the thought, it had been a long time since there was any humor. Ash opened the door and head towards the main entrance, Professor Oak and the Unova team followed along, with part of their confidence partly restored.

When they approached, the others had their bags packed and strapped to their backs. Pansage and Axew sat perched on their trainer's shoulders, sitting calmly as they watch them checked their guns. They were armed with a mix of shotguns and bolt-action rifles, .12 gauge and .22 in that order. Mark and his Pokémon were also ready, the Faraday Island local simply wore a small backpack. His holster of arrows and .22 varmint rifle strapped to it. Mark checked the sights of his crossbow and cocked it, then slapped on a fresh bolt. His Pokémon had a smile on their face, in fact they were the only ones who had a smile on their face. Ash wondered what kept them happy when their lives were threatened last night, he made a mental note to ask Mark about it later.

"You're ready, Ash?" Mark asked.

"I gotta go get my backpack," said Ash, "Then we're ready to leave."

"Hey, Ash," Cilan asked, "What happened to Snivy?"

"She spent the night drunk," said Ash, "She'll be fine."

Ash sat Snivy back on the floor, she stretched her limbs and popped her joints. The Grass Snake Pokémon looked like she finally sobered up, hopefully she wouldn't have any problems during the trip, "Snivy," she let out a nod.

"This wouldn't take long," said Ash, "It would just be a minute."

Ash walked back upstairs and grabbed his backpack, crowbar, and AR-15, he put it on and squeezed the assault rifle and crowbar in the soft gaps. After double-checking he hadn't left anything, Ash head back to the entrance and rejoined his friends, "I'm ready when you are."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu chirped with enthusiasm.

Wally came up and handed a slip of paper to Mark, "Here's the frequencies we'll be using in Carson, try to stay in touch."

"I'll keep the radio on," said Mark, "We'll start chatting in a day or two, once we get all settled up."

"I'm sorry about Carly, Mark. She was a nice girl."

"I wonder what my dad would think if he knows what his cousin did."

"Merle wasn't his cousin anymore."

"Whatever survived I destroyed, how's that wound anyway?"

"It's healing nicely."

Wally approached Ash and shook his hand, "On a personal basis, thank you for saving Tesla, again. That rodent caused a lot of trouble on this island for more than half a century, but we rather deal with his problems than the Undead."

"Ask him if he wants a police escort when he's ready to move out," said Ash, "Tell him I suggested it."

"I'll pass it along."

"We're all set?" Iris asked.

"Axew?" Axew added.

"I think so," said Ash, "We might-"

Something crashed downstairs, it sounded like pipes and heavy boxes had been knocked over from a shelf. Ash froze, everyone in the room held their breath and listened. A second later, a loud groan wailed down below.

Mark readied his crossbow, "Something's in the basement."

That wasn't a question.

"I wonder who's down there." said Wally.

Wally drew his pistol and approached the basement door, with Mark following behind. His Emolga jumped off his shoulder and regrouped with his other Pokémon, they all pressed into a tight ball and watched. Without warning, the basement door burst open and Randal crawled out. Wally and Mark jumped back in shock, "Holy sh*t!" he cried in unison.

Randal's skin was pale, his eyes sunken in. He clutched a poorly bandaged arm as he crawled out of the basement, dragging a blood trail behind him, "Please," he croaked, "Help!"

The bandit wheezed and coughed out black blood, Ash realized what happened.

"He's bit," said Wally, "He's nearly turned!"

"Tried to escape," Randal muttered, "Tunnels filled . . . with death."

Delia stepped back and gasped, "What do we do?"

Wally glared at her, "What do you think we have to do? We got to make sure he doesn't turn!"

"What do you mean _we_?"

Wally puffed up his chest and stared down at her, "Oh don't tell me you want to let this bastard rot before we kill him, we do it now while his body's still fresh!"

"He's just a kid!"

"He shot at us!" Brock blurted.

"And he's going to eat us if we do nothing," Mark added, "Let me put a bolt through his eye!"

"Hold it, Mark!" Professor Oak intervened, "Don't go all at him."

Mark shot a look at him, "You weren't there when he took pot shots at us!"

"He's just a kid, Mark!" said Delia.

Mark snorted, "Yeah, and I'm slightly younger than him!"

"Okay," said Wally, "How about this, we let Randal decide if he gets to be shot at the spot or shot after he turn."

"Now," Randal blurted, "Do it now! For f*ck sake, do it now!"

Mark raised his crossbow, "With pleasure."

Before Mark could fire, Ash drew his pistol and aimed it. With no hesitation, he homed a bead straight into Randal's temple. The back of his head exploded with red blood, coating the door with heavy gore. His lifeless body flopped forward with a thud, blood oozed out the gunshot wound and pooled onto the floor.

Ash still held the gun in the firing position as all eyes turned towards him, his hand shook as the heat of the moment bombard his nerves.

After a full minute of silence, Ash holstered his pistol and turned towards the door, "Let's get outta here." he grunted.

**. . .**

There was no goodbye, nor a simple wave. Ash and his friends and Pokémon simply left, without looking back. They all walked in a disorganized formation, a scatter in a small cluster of humans and Pokémon. With eyes wide alert, and anxiety on the edge of insanity, no way anyone would try to sneak up on them.

They passed through Carson's once busy roads. Ash saw most of the buildings had burned down, smoke still fume out of the ashes, along with a sprinkle of still-burning embers. The bandits must had set these stores ablaze yesterday, it didn't seem to do them any good. He didn't see anything worth salvaging from the ruins, they were already tapped out beforehand. The cars that were parked on the curbs a month ago were stripped to their frame, their tires were gone and the engine compartments stripped of the battery and engine. Same fate for the cars that crashed, except those that were burned into a hollow aluminum shell.

Not a single zombie was in sight. Ash smelled the air, Death was not in the wind this time. The Pokémon seem calm, nothing was around to brush up against their instincts. Snivy looked a lot better, now completely sober. But she still looked grief-stricken, she trotted along with her head down, keeping close to Oshawott or Scraggy, alternating every few seconds. Oshawott kept close to Ash, he constantly looked over his shoulder to check if anyone was following them. So far, nothing was there. Or so it seemed.

As they approached a road leading out of town, they found it congested with abandoned vehicles. Half of them burned to a shell, the rest were blood splattered with corpses lying in and around them in every stage of decomposition. The group stopped for a moment, Ash craned his neck to look over the cars, seeing if there were any other way through. He saw a few straggling Undead, wandering aimlessly in circles. One was eating a fresh kill, he couldn't see what kind though. The group was far enough away that the Undead didn't see them, let alone hear them.

"Looks like we have to find another way around." said Ash.

Mark turned towards the east, "There's a bridge nearby, it would take us down another back road that would connect to the one leading to the Westinghouse Farm."

As the group started down the road, the sun rose higher into the sky. Ash looked up, it was bright orange. The clouds were gray and black, few and far between. Every day that passed, it felt like the skies were getting more grotesque and evil. The moon was barely visible in the horizon, it was unnaturally larger than Ash remembered. It also was more tan-colored, like the moon seen in classic horror movies. It was on a waxing gibbous. A few more nights and it would be full, and quite big.

Up ahead, several Pidoves were attacking a carcass of a human being. When the group got closer, their Undead attributes were more apparent. Several Pidoves were missing feathers on their breasts, tails, and wings. Ribs stuck out, sections of intestines snake out. Their eyes glowed sharp yellow, seemingly more stunning than the red eyes of the usual Undead. They pulled apart bits of rotten meat from the corpse and get to the delicious morsel, all in the while ignoring the Living as they neared.

"Well this is different," said Mark, "Look at their eyes, they're yellow."

"Do they know we're here?" Misty asked.

"They do," said Ash, "They're just not afraid."

"They're acting like the way they were when they're alive," said Iris, "It's like they're pretending things were normal."

Mark turned to Iris, "Eating dead bodies is considered normal?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, in towns and cities it's not."

"Emo." Emolga agreed with a nod.

The corpse stirred, the group stopped and watched as it slowly sat up. Its joints popped as it point a glowing red eye at them. The other eye was gone, eaten by the Undead Pidoves. Most of its face was eaten off from the scavengers, its mouth was a skeletal muscle look hybrid. Its hair was caked with mud, it showed signs that it was a dirty blond color. The zombie wore a bloody brown tweed jacket, a white polar shirt, and a pair of tan khakis. The Pidoves had torn into them to get to the rotting meat they clothed, the zombie just sat there for a moment, staring at them with its remaining eye almost in curiosity. The group stared back in turn, waiting for someone to make a move.

A full minute passed before the zombie moaned. Its jaw creaked open, something snapped and it came loose, dropping on the Undead's lap. The zombie's black tongue hanged out over his chest like a business tie, black blood and bacterial-laced drool spilled out. The zombie didn't noticed his jaw was gone, didn't even notice the Undead Pidoves were sinking their beaks into its skin and pulling out bits of muscle, it was more concern on getting a meal of its own.

It didn't get the chance to discover that it lost the ability to feed, as Mark homed in with his crossbow and sank a bolt through its face. The zombie simply flopped back down, arms spread out. The Undead Pidoves weren't disturbed, they just went on with their business.

"I wondered how the birds turned," said Mark, "Luckily they aren't hostile, or they would have chased us by now."

Mark walked up to the corpse and pulled the bolt out of its head, the Pidoves stepped back and watched as he wiped the bolt off on its jacket. One Undead Pidove took interest in Mark's boots, it wandered up and pecked at his feet, "Get outta here!" Mark yelled at the Undead bird.

He nudged the Pidove back with his foot. The Undead Tiny Pigeon Pokémon didn't squawk or fought back, it just stared up at Mark with its yellow eyes, as if it was waiting for him to do something. Mark stuck the bolt back on his crossbow and said, "Let's move on."

The group left the birds to finish up their meal. When they reached the end of the road, they stumbled upon the river. Ash covered his nose, he smelled its putrid odor before he saw it. The group's jaws dropped. Thick greenish-brown sludge took the place of crystal clear water. It traveled slowly down the river, making an awful slurping sound as it bubbled noxious gas. A few bodies floated down the river, bobbing up and down as they were carried out to sea.

"Ugh," said Iris, covering her nose, "What happened to the river?"

"Axew?" the Tusk Pokémon added, trying to hold his breath.

"The sewage treatment plants are down," said Mark, "All that you see is raw human sewage, along with chemicals and acids coming from the factories in the industrial parts of Faraday Island."

Brock picked up a rock and threw it into the river, the rock plopped on the sludge but didn't sink. The river carried it downstream until it was out of sight, "Stuff's thick." he noted.

Mark shook his head, "What an environmental disaster, the crap's so thick that it would clog the water supply before it could contaminate it."

Large bubbles suddenly erupted out of the river of sludge, the group jumped back as a bloaded swamp-like creature popped its head out. Its eyes glowed red as it roared and snarled, thrashing its arms as it struggle to swim through the sludge.

Ash looked closely through, its anatomy appeared to be a Dewott. He could barely make out the whiskers on its face. The Undead Dewott was more monster than the Discipline Pokémon. Thick sludge caked its body, acting like a 2nd skin. Its belly was horribly bloated, protruding out from the built-up of pressure. Green mucus like slime oozed out of its mouth, pouring out like a waterfall. The Undead Dewott coughed and spat it out, more gunk came out. If the Undead Dewott still felt pain, it would be miserable in trying to contain its bodily fluids.

The Undead Dewott fought against the river, flopping like a fish out of water as it swam closer to land. It continued to cough out the endless stream of slime, wheezing and belching loudly. Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out his modified Pokédex, then aimed it at the creature.

_"Boomer," _said the Pokédex's electronic voice, _"The mutated water-type Undead Pokémon. __The Boomer's gall bladder produces a seemingly endless supply of bile, which builds up in its abdominal cavity. When the Boomer spots potential prey, it regurgitates bile at them. The stuff is very putrid and attracts zombies in the nearby vicinity._

"Damn." muttered Mark.

_ "When killed," _the Pokédex went on, _"the pressure built up in the Boomer's belly is released, creating an explosion as powerful as a hand grenade."_

Mark aimed his crossbow and fired, the bolt burrowed deep into the Dewott's eye and it flopped backwards into the sludge. Its belly gurgled and explode, sending a fireworks explosion of bile, feces, and rotting flesh everywhere as its body shredded into a million pieces. The smell alone knocked the group back. Misty lost her breakfast, Cilan and his Pansage almost passed out. Mark just stood there with a smile on his face as his Emolga covered her nose with an arm, "Why is this so funny?" he asked.

"Cause its toilet humor." Ash blurted as he struggled to get fresh air.

"Pika!" Pikachu added.

Snivy let out a moan, then vomit on the ground. Mark and Ash's Pokémon gave her space, not wanting to get puked on, "Sniv!" she screamed as she let out another wave of vomit.

"To come to think of it," said Mark, "I remember there used to be Oshawotts and Dewotts living up and down the river, maybe there's more of them down below."

"Let's get outta here before more show up." said Iris.

The group followed the river for a short while before turning back into town. Ash listened for any zombie groans, he heard none. Eventually he sighed and said, "How did this happen in the first place?"

"What happened?" Misty asked.

"The Undead rising from the graves."

"I can tell you one thing," said Mark, "It ain't anything rational, only a deity could do such a thing."

"Does anyone know of any legendary Pokémon that can reanimate the dead?"

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu added.

Everybody shook their head, "I don't know of any," said Professor Oak, "I wondered how the legendary Pokémon are handling this."

"Does the Undead apocalypse affect them?" Cilan asked.

Mark nodded, "The whole world went to sh*t around them, impossible for them to ignore. The most powerful Pokémon in existence might not stand a chance against the zombies, even the immortal ones."

"Does Faraday Island have any legendary Pokémon?" Ash asked.

Mark turned to him, "Does Tesla Westinghouse count?"

"Does he?"

"Since he turned a grown man into a pile of dust with a single blast, I suppose he's legendary. But he's not immortal, eventually he'll go, along with the remainder of his generation."

Ash shrugged, "If he _can _go."

A moment of silence passed before Delia asked, "How did you do it, Ash?"

Ash turned to her, "Did what?"

"You know . . . Randal?"

Ash frowned, "I don't know," he simply says, "I just did it, and that's it. He asked us to put him down, there ain't no way out for him."

"Even if he wasn't bit," said Mark, "We would have still killed him, or someone would. I don't think anyone would let him go scott-free after the failed bandit raid."

"We don't have to worry about that anymore," said Ash, "it's done. We don't have to worry about other survivors, just us, and only us from here on out."

Delia shook her head, "That doesn't sound like you-"

Ash cut her off, "It's not my choice, Mom. It's everybody's."

The group went silent once again. They walked down the deserted road and come across another massive pileup. The wreck was bad, worse than the last one. This time, bodies were hanging out of the windows, most of the cars were burned to a crisp. Some of the bodies were charred beyond recognition, burned into roasted mannequins. Brock gave the area a scan, "We have to go around it," he pointed to the sidewalk, "Right around there."

There was a store, heavily boarded up. It sits near the way passed the wreck. Ash went first, he got on the sidewalk and tried to squeeze through.

Something cracked, sounded like wood had splintered. Ash turned towards the barricade, the boarded window creaked and shift.

Mark came up behind him, "Found something?"

Before Ash could answer, the boards broke into pieces, unleashing a small horde of Undead into their face.

"Pika!" Pikachu screamed, he jumped off Ash's shoulder in a split second.

"Ash!" cried his friends in unison.

A zombie tackled Ash to the ground with sheer determined force, knocking his AR-15 out of his hands. He scraped his arm against the curb. Ash ignored it, instead focusing on his attacker. The zombie looked up. Its head was clean-shaven, it wore a military uniform. It was bloody, torn into muddy rags. Its face was rotten, the zombie let out a growl as it shifted its hands around Ash's throat. He wasted no time whipping out his knife and sunk its blade into the zombie's forehead. The zombie went limp and Ash was able to push it off.

Just as Ash jumped back, a zombie – also in a set of military clothes – tackled Mark and bit him on the arm. Mark screamed as the zombie tore off a chunk of flesh, fresh blood gushed out like a faucet as he dropped his crossbow, "You bit me," Mark roared, more pissed than horrified, "You bastard!"

The group quickly got out their pistols and began dispatching the Undead. Ash scooped up his AR-15 and quickly fired suppressed shots into the small horde. Black blood splattered everywhere, heads shot back before their bodies dropped. Mark clamped a hand, swearing unintelligible curse words as he fumbled for his crossbow.

Mark and Ash's Pokémon scattered back, hollering ear-piercing screams as they panicked. Even Snivy lost it, she let out a soft scream as she tried to use Oshawott as a shield to defend herself. Pansage jumped off Cilan's shoulder and joined them, ready to run off if things got bad.

The group didn't back down, they held their breaths and kept a steady grip on their guns. They shot the zombies as they poured out of the store, it felt like there were a hundred in there. Bodies quickly piled up on the sidewalk, almost as fast as the zombie came out of the store. Gunshots rang out in the air, startling nearby Undead birds to take flight. Ash kept his cool, he fired one shot each into a zombie's skull. By the time he ran out of ammo, the final zombie climbed out. Mark finally whipped up his crossbow and fired a bolt straight through its brain.

"Damn," he muttered as he dropped to his knees, he slapped pressure on the bite and gasped, "F*ck sake!"

Realizing what had happened, Mark's Pokémon froze. They all stared at their trainer's fatal bite, their jaws hanging open with disbelief. After a few seconds, they glanced at each other, then back at Mark, "Emolga!" the shiny sprite Sky Squirrel sobbed.

Mark got back up and unleashed his anger at the corpse that bit him, he stomped its head in until it became a bloody pool of black blood, "F*CK!" he screamed so loud that his voice echoed.

He dropped back on the ground and turned towards his Pokémon, "I'm sorry," he whimpered, "I'm sorry."

"CHU!" Mark's Pikachu sobbed.

Mark's Emolga, Pikachu, Plusle, and Minun broke down crying, they all rushed up to Mark and gave him a tight hug. They cried into his leg as Mark struggled to stop the bleeding, his hand soak with bright red blood as he continue to swear under his breath.

Ash's friends stood there, paralyzed and dumbstrucked. They all watched in horror as Mark's Pokémon broke down before them, crying uncontrollably thinking their trainer isn't going to make it.

"Oh gosh!" Misty cried as she looked away.

"Mother of all bacterium infections," Mark grumped, "CRE bacteria so deadly that body parts die before the whole thing goes. In other words, I'm f*cked!"

Ash shook his head and looked away, seeing another friend marked for Undeath made him nauseous. He shot a hand over his mouth and tried not to vomit, Ash succeeded.

"Pikachu!"

Ash turned and saw his Pikachu running up to him, he opened his arms ready to pick him up.

Pikachu skidded to a stop and gasped, he shot his hands over his mouth as his pupils swelled over his eyes. Tears poured out, almost in a waterfall fashion. The Mouse Pokémon shook his head and turned away, "Chu," he muttered, "CHU!"

Ash wondered what got him upset this fast. Suddenly the 10-year old Pokémon trainer felt something itch on his arm, he looked down to scratch it . . . His eyes widen, blood froze.

Smack-dab on his left forearm were two arches of human teeth impressions, oozing blood.

**TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	45. Ch 45: Army of the Damned

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLV_

_Army of the Damned_

Ash fell on his rear, his back came to rest against the burned out car. His eyes stared blankly down the road. He held his arm with the palm spread out, small drops of blood trailed out of the bite. Pikachu dropped to his knees and cried a tanker full of tears, his trainer watched the Mouse Pokémon's hope and faith disintegrate into a pile of dust.

It was over, for Ash at least. His other Pokémon still had a chance to escape and survive, but that was all they could do. They couldn't live, they couldn't thrive. Just survive. To them, there was no point in survival anymore. Everything was gone, the world was gone. Every continent and almost every island was filled with the Undead, eating any survivor they could find, and tearing anything apart to search for more. It was an never-ending drive for food to satisfy an insatiable appetite. The thought of becoming a flesh-eating monster, somehow, didn't surprise him. Not one bit. Ash already understood without a doubt that anyone can become a zombie in the end.

That was it, there was no denying it. Zombism awaits them all. Even if he grew old and die of natural causes or he dies in an accident, the result was always the same: Undeath. In other words, everybody's screwed regardless of what happens. Undeath simply awaits them in the end.

_So why does it have to be so painful? _Ash thought.

"Does anyone have any Hydrogen peroxide?" Mark asked as he got up, the bite on his arm bled out to create a pool of blood. Ash stared at it, surprised that it didn't seem so scary now.

"What good Hydrogen peroxide do to a zombie bite?" Misty asked.

"Buys me time," said Mark, "I don't know how much but . . ."

His voice trailed off as he glanced at Ash, "You okay, Ash?"

Ash didn't say a word as he showed his bite to the others, their faces dropped, "They got me, too." Ash answered.

"No f*cking way," Mark reacted, "No f*cking way!"

Delia shook her head, she rushed over to Ash and helped him up, "No, no, no, no," he panicked, "Please, no!"

"You gotta be kidding me." Brock muttered bluntly.

"Axew!" the Tusk Pokémon cried as he hid his face into Iris's shoulder.

"Em!" Emolga gasped.

Delia hugged Ash and cried on his shoulder, he patted her on the back and hugged her back. He didn't cry, he ran out of tears long ago. His mom sobbed on his shoulder and whimpered, "No, no, Ash."

"I'm sorry, mom," Ash whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," said Delia, "Never was."

Professor Oak looked away for a moment, he stared at the bodies as they rot on the sidewalk. He turned to Ash and asked, "What do we do?"

"I don't know." he said.

"I have a plan," said Mark, "Get out of here. Look."

He pointed down the road, everyone turned. One by one, the Undead limped out of dark buildings. They group together to form a horde, bolstered with another cluster of Walkers coming in from the end of the street. In all a large Undead horde, probably a hundred zombies strong, came marching down the road. Eyes bright red with arms straight out. Remarkably it took them a few minutes to notice the potential prey up ahead. Ash could tell, their moans increased in volume as their eyes locked forward. Straight at his group.

Mark stripped off his sweater and tied it around his bleeding arm, he quickly holstered his crossbow and drew his pistol, "Guys," he said, "Time to go!"

The group, fixated at the horde, snapped out of it. Mark ran around the car pile-up and took off, his Pokémon stopped crying and ran after him. Ash glanced back at the horde, then back at Mark, "Wait for me!" Ash cried.

Ash took off after him, when his friends noticed he was fleeing they quickly caught up with him. The Undead horde quickly took their last position, striving to catch them.

**. . .**

Jessie, James, and Meowth waited patiently on the small hill. Their backpacks were strapped tight, and their weapons holstered. The hill barely overlooked Carson and the Faraday coastline in the far distance. Natas could see faint columns of white smoke trailing up towards the sky, eager to join the clouds. Even though there were survivors, Carson appeared abandoned and ran down to ruin. There was no life, no economy, just mass graves and burned out ash piles.

The wind blew across the hill, Natas smelled it. Thick putrid foul burn his nostrils. There was a horde, probably 3 kilometers away. Natas was worried. If the Undead arrives before the osprey, then the carefully laid plan would be delayed. He couldn't afford that, time was running out.

The trio muttered to themselves, asking each other questions. Luke eavesdropped on their conversation. They talked about the old days, how they tried to commandeer Pokémon for the old Boss. How they tried to kidnapped Ash's Pikachu. They mainly talked about the past, and only the past. They weren't concerned about the new Boss and what the future holds. They must be in denial, which was normal. They weren't the best members the new Boss inherited from Giovanni, but they proved useful nonetheless. If only he could bring back their goofiness.

Natas shook his head, he doubted it. They were scared out of wits end, probably thinking about love ones in their pre-crinimal days. They were all gone now, nothing to go back to. Luke wondered to himself how the Undead came to being in the first place. Of course, he knew his Boss created them. He carefully designed them and the science-geeks fine tuned them. Natas didn't know how he did it, he did know what he used to bring the dead back to life. The human brain works like a radio, it can pick up and send out messages. Ironically, if one were to build a powerful radio antenna – let's say, fifty-thousand Watts – one can send out anything in a normal radio frequency, the only difference was the receivers were human brains.

It had to do with interfering with the brain's magnetic field, stuff Natas still had yet to understand. All he knows was that it works, he also knows the same frequencies can _control _the weather. That explained why the sky was always red-orange and how Pokémon got the early warning of their doom. The science-geeks knew sh*t why, the technology was still in its infancy. The new Boss was confident that it would be fully-developed within 5 or 10 years . . . assuming Team Rocket would survive that long.

The trio, and the "twerps", knew nothing about it. Natas imagined they would be appalled if they figured it out. Why does the new Boss want the Team Rocket trio, and the Ketchum boy, he would never know. But he understood why he took interest. Ketchum had something about him that makes him so special. According to his dossier, his friends had only caught glimpses of his true potential. Does the Boss want to crack open the shell containing Ash's true power, or was there another, more devious, plan in the works?

Natas shrugged, he would just had to wait and see.

The faint thumping of helicopter blades started to rise from the distance. James turn to Natas and asked, "What do we do?"

"Just get on board and they'll take you back to HQ," said Natas, "The new Boss himself will bring you up to speed on what you need to know."

"What about you," Meowth asked, "Are you coming with us?"

"The Boss needs me on this island," said Natas, "I believe this would be the last time we would ever see each other, I hope you get back to HQ safely."

"Why does the Boss need you here, anyway?" Jessie asked.

Natas shrugged, "He didn't gave me much details, maybe he would tell you if you meet him."

"So this is goodbye?" James asked.

"Yes, comrade, this is goodbye."

Within moments, the osprey came into view. It was spray-painted black, the new Team Rocket "R" logo displayed on the sides. The cargo bay door opened as the osprey landed. A soldier stepped out. He wore Team Rocket combat armor, his hands firmly gripped an M-16 assault rifle. The soldier approached the trio and and nodded, "Come on in," he said, "The new Boss is eager to meet you."

The Team Rocket trio nodded, they boarded the osprey without question and took a seat. They looked confused, almost disoriented. Probably wondering what they were doing. The soldier then turn to Natas, the two exchanged salutes, "Good luck on the island, Natas," said the soldier, "Do what you need to do."

Natas gave a simple nod. The soldier then turned back to the osprey and boarded it, the cargo bay doors closed as the osprey powered up. It hovered over the hill for a moment before flying off into the distance. Natas watched the osprey vanish over the horizon, the echos of the osprey's rotor-blades echoed for a full minute before silence reclaimed the land.

"The trio is on their way to you, sir." he spoke into the communicator.

"Go find Ash," the Boss simply says, "Wherever he is."

"Aye, sir."

Natas signed off and turned to Carson, the air smelled more foul than before. The horde isn't that far now, best move on. He pulled out a suppressed .22 pistol. It just so happened to belong to the shiny sprite Emolga, he snatched it out of Mark's bag when he wasn't looking. Natas checked the clip before heading off to Carson.

He heard the moans sooner than expected, they were coming from the north. Natas saw a few stray Undead stumble out of the ruined buildings, they wore filthy jumpsuits and plumber's overalls. They symbolized Carson's service district, or what was left of it. Now they stuff their faces full of still-warm meat than fixing cars and pipes. Just before they took notice of Natas, he fired his silenced pistol. Black dots formed on each of their foreheads, they were on the ground a second later. Natas checked the corpses for loot, all he found was now worthless pokédollars and bank cards.

Natas moved on. He navigated passed several ruined cars as he made his way towards the exit out-of-town, he paced his breathing and looked over his shoulder repeatedly. The thought of more bandits running about was more concerning than zombies. Zombies don't think, bandits do – well, most of the time. He had seen several bandits scatter yesterday when the Undead horde arrived to snuff out the Pokémon Center. None ran towards the direction of the Westinghouse farm, but that doesn't mean any dirtbag hadn't wandered into North Carson. Sure enough, Natas found a couple of zombies feasting on a dead bandit right when he came around the corner.

A couple of clicks of the .22 pistol took out the Walkers.

This time Natas got lucky, but not that lucky. He found a clip of 9mm pistol rounds on one of the bodies, yet he doesn't have the right type of gun. Maybe he could barter with survivors up in Faraday City sometime next week. He stuffed the clip into his backpack and searched the corpses further. The dead bandit was carrying a .38 revolver. Natas checked the cylinder. Looks like the dirtbag used the last round for himself. He stuffed the revolver in his backpack and continued walking.

Now the moans were getting louder, like a thousand hums all synced up for a massive Undeath choir. They all came from the north, yet there was no horde in sight. The zombies were all riled up, why? Natas got his answer when he heard automatic gunfire, followed by pistol rounds. It sounded like an AR-15 and 9mm handgun rounds, they were quite distinct. Hopefully, that must be Ash and his group. They sounded like they were in deep sh*t. Natas ran into an abandoned building and made his way to the roof, he crouched down and peered over the the edge.

_Damn_. Natas thought.

The Mark kid led the way, clutching an arm wrapped in his bloody sweater. He'd either been gashed or bit. The Ketchum kid was right behind him. As he ran by, Natas's heart sank. He saw the bite on his arm, it was bleeding. The Undead got him, they probably got Mark too. Chief Kissinger wouldn't be happy when he got the news his son became a Walker. Natas shook his head, he doesn't care about him. Ash was the prize. His mission was to keep an eye on him and protect him, looks like he failed.

Ash's mother, his friends, and their Pokémon followed the two in a tight cluster. The younger ones spun around a couple times to put down a few Undead, then continue running. By the time they past, the Undead horde made their approach.

Natas's jaw dropped, the Undead horde was packed shoulder to shoulder, as far as the eye could see. The horde that attacked the Pokémon Center was nowhere near this size. Yeah, the group was screwed.

Natas pressed his back against the wall and sat down. He drew his communicator and held it for a moment, how was he going to tell the boss? He sighed, no way he could sugar-coat bad news.

"Sir," he spoke, "You there?"

"Yes, Natas," said his boss, "What's wrong, you seem down?"

"Ash is bit, the Undead got him."

There was second of silence before the Boss asked, "Is he still alive?"

"Yes."

"Good, the fact that he's bit late in the plan shouldn't affect it much. This might work into our favor."

"How, sir?"

"There was one thing you must do, before we could wrap up this part of the plan."

"Say it."

When the Boss told him, Natas's heart sank to his stomach, "Sir, he's just a kid."

"There isn't much anyone can do about it, Luke." the Boss bluntly says.

Natas squeezed the communicator, "But to his Pikachu!?"

"Before the day is out over at your time zone, it would be the last time Ash would feel human. I want you to make sure his last feeling would last."

Natas bit down on his teeth and pressed his head against the wall, he let out a frustrated groan. He raised the communicator back to his mouth and spoke in a soft voice, "I'll get it done, sir."

"I know you would."

Natas signed out, he pocketed the communicator and got up. The horde had passed, leaving the streets barren as before. Luke ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head, "He's only a kid," he thought out loud, "That Pikachu . . ."

As he trailed back towards the stairwell, an empty paint can sat near the door. Natas glared at it for a moment before giving it a sharp kick, it flew over the edge of the roof and clattered to the sidewalk below.

**. . .**

It felt like they were crawling all over the place, Ash panted as he ran. He couldn't look back, his eyes were locked forward. His Pokémon were right by his side, they were running as fast as their little feet could take them. His friends yelled commands at each other, firing back at the Undead. They were attracting more of the things, not making the situation any better. For every zombie killed, it seemed like two takes their place.

"Through the shop!" Mark cried.

He struggled to keep pressure on the bite as he jogged through an abandoned store. The group followed through the wrecked shop. Broken glass and dried blood coated the floor. Shelves were smashed and turned over, the massive windows just gaping holes through the front. The group had to leap over the counters and downed shopping carts just to past through. It wasn't difficult, but it could take the Walkers forever to pass the obstacles.

When they make it to the other side, the river lay in front of them. Huge geysers of mud and sewage towered over them. At their base, rotted corpses of Oshawotts and Dewotts crawled out. Their mouths, noses, butts, and any open wounds in their bellies oozed out vile green slime. It burned Ash's nose, they smelled worse than death.

One by one the Boomers vomit columns of bile at the group. Brock knocked Professor Oak out of the path of stray bile, it shot passed where he was standing and splattered the wall of the store, "Thanks." said Oak.

Ash aimed his AR-15 and fired a few rounds at the Boomers. He doesn't have to aim for the heads for these mutant cadavers, a bullet in the torso or chest releases the contained bile into a explosive mist of body parts. The explosions made Ash's ears rang, some Boomers were close enough to each other to cause chain reactions, they thundered from each kill. That was amazing, yet grotesque at the same time. Bubbly necrotic organs belched out bile, most were stomachs and intestines, which splattered non-digested food among their gases. Ash couldn't tell if they were either pre or post-zombification. Feces and rotten meat looked the same these days.

The group continued running down the road, following the river down the sea. It felt like they were running for kilometers, it sounded like they covered a lot of ground. Ash could barely hear the moans of the zombie horde anymore. Looks like they were in the clear, for now.

"We gotta cross the river," said Mark, "It's our only way to get to the farm!"

"We gotta find a bridge," said Iris, "I'm not swimming that yuck!"

"Axew!" Axew squealed, pinching his nose.

"There should be a draw bridge up ahead," said Mark, "We can use it to get across."

Ash could see it up ahead, the bridge looms over the horizon in the high noon sun. When the group got close, he soon saw a problem, "It's a drawbridge!" he exclaimed.

The drawbridge had a folding design, where two halves come down and meet together at the center for pedestrians and cars to get across. Both halves were raised to a 45 degree angle, cars that were on the bridge slid off, either crashed onto the road or sank into the river. He could see the mangled wrecks rusting away like tossed toys, he saw what looked like a corpse hanging out the window of a half-submerged pickup truck in the river. Ash peered closer, the head was smashed beyond recognition, its body stripped to the bone by the toxic sludge.

"We gotta lower it somehow." said Misty.

Mark rushed up to the buildings that housed the controls. The building was heavily barricaded. Several planks were vertically nailed over the big windows facing the bridge, the other smaller windows were nailed with simple planks. Someone had decided to camp out here, and at first it didn't seem like anybody was home. Mark didn't bother knocking, he threw the door open and ran inside. His Pokémon followed behind him.

The group ran inside the building and Brock shut the door behind them. Inside, several empty tin cans and wrappers littered the floor. The control panels that operate the bridge were covered with fine dust, they hadn't been touched since the initial outbreak. At the far corner there was a cot and sleeping back, it was covered with dried blood. Someone must had bled a lot, the stains looked like weeks old. In the far back, a stairwell led to the roof. It might serve as an emergency escape if a horde is trying to break in.

Ash saw Mark at a nearby workbench, his Pokémon watched as he looked through the tools. He had found half a dozen disposable Bunsen burners, the kind used to keep food warm when served in mass gatherings. Mark set them up and proceed to unscrew the caps, his bite had soaked his makeshift bandage with blood. Ash wondered what Mark was doing, he should be finding something to properly patch it up.

"How's that hand, Ash?" Professor Oak asked.

Ash turned to him and said, "It feels hot, and throbbing."

"Pika." Pikachu whined.

Ash pulled up a chair and sat down, he pulled off his hat and sighed, "That was a close one."

"They were everywhere," said Iris, "What's attracting them?"

"Axew?" Axew muttered.

"Who knows," said Brock, "Noise, blood, body odor. Heck, we don't know anything!"

Cilan went over the controls and pushed a few button, "It's dead," he said, "It needs power!"

"Pan Pan!" Pansage cried.

Professor Oak shook his head, he leaned against the wall and groaned, "Great, just great! I'm getting too old for this!"

Everyone went silent for a moment, listening to Mark's tinkering over who knows what. Pikachu jumped on Ash's lap and gave him a hug, the trainer scratched the Mouse Pokémon's ears as it whimpered, "It's not over, Pikachu," he said, "I'm not out, yet."

"Snivy Sniv." Snivy muttered.

Ash glanced at Snivy, she sat at a corner facing the wall, "Sniv Sniv." she muttered.

"I wish Tesla's here to translate." says Misty.

"I wish he wasn't." said Ash.

"Why?" Iris asked.

Ash held up the bite, "We got a Dawn and Max situation here, I don't wanna be near Tesla when he starts getting stir-crazy."

Pikachu looked up at Ash, his dough eyes glistened light coming from a boarded window. Ash rubbed one of Pikachu's cheeks, it did nothing to ease his tension, "When it bit me," said Ash, "The Walker – it knocked me down to the ground. It felt like a bad scrape, I didn't know it was there until I felt it itch."

"Mine f*cking hurt like a gunshot wound," said Mark, "Believe me, I know."

Mark unraveled the sweater and tossed it to the floor, his Pokémon backed away from the infectious sweater. They were still at shock, more emotional than Ash's Pokémon. They huddled around Mark's legs and hugged him, muttering out soft cries and whimpers. The bleeding of Mark's bite had slowed, but it started to blacken around the edges. A sign of necrosis.

"What are you doing, Mark?" Delia asked.

Mark pulled up a concrete towel, it glowed orange with intense heat, "Buying myself time."

He held out his arm and stamped the towel over the bite. The smell of burned flesh engulfed the room as the trowel cauterized it. Delia placed a hand over her mouth and gasped, Iris and Misty looked away. Brock, Cilan, and Professor Oak simply stared, their jaws dropped to the floor. Mark's Pokémon covered their mouths, horrified. Oshawott couldn't take it and so momentary passed out on the floor. Pignite and Scraggy stared in shock while Snivy looked on, her face showed a grin, either impressed by Mark's will to survive or some other reason.

Mark pulled the trowel off and examined the bite, it crusted over with burned flesh and blisters. Any blood vessels bleeding out were sealed, or so it seemed, "That should do it." said Mark. He sat the trowel aside, its bottom scabbed over with skin and blood. It looked like the trowel was used to smash cooked hamburgers. Ash adverted his eyes, he seen enough.

"How long since we'd been bitten?" Mark asked.

"An hour." said Delia.

Mark grinned, "So far I don't feel a fever coming or a nausea . . . so far."

He sat down against the wall and stared at the clock. The hands weren't moving, it stopped keeping track of time long ago after its battery died. Delia, Brock, Cilan, and Iris sat cross-legged on the floor. Misty kept pacing back and forth in the room, her face told Ash she was trying to come up with some sort of plan. After 10 minutes of pacing, she slumped against the wall in exhaustion.

"What do we do?" Misty asked.

"We figure out how to get that bridge down." said Brock.

"She doesn't mean about the bridge, guys." said Mark.

They didn't needed to be reminded, Brock let out a sigh and asked, "So how do you want to do this?"

Emolga hugged Mark and let out a cry, "Emolga!"

Mark scratched Emolga's back and sighed, "I've seen my friends die in front of me, I put one down and shot another in her death rows," he was referring to Henry and Carley, he picked up Emolga and held her up, "They never wanted that, they never would. In a so-called normal disaster it would have been insane, then again, what about your own Pokémon? Did they ever asked you to shoot them when they're dying?"

Mark turned to Professor Oak, "What would you do, Sam? How would you do it?"

"Lethal injection," Oak explained, "First a drug is injected into the body to knock out the Pokémon, then another drug is injected to stop the heart. It's a peaceful process."

"That wouldn't be an option now, blood must be spilled and must be extremely violent to make sure no creature would come back as Undead. It's either the brain or a flesh-eating monster, there's no way avoiding this fate. We're all marked for it regardless."

Mark sat Emolga down with his other Pokémon, "I rather see how the other half lives, I may be taking an off-ramp towards Undeath but I still have a few cards to play."

He turned to Iris, "Can you take care of my Emolga when I'm gone, Iris?"

"Yes," said Iris, "I can."

"Axew." Axew nodded.

"I know she may not replace the Emolga you lost, but she's quite similar. She's just more lazier and more dopey."

"She won't be the same as before, but she's still loving."

Emolga and the rest of Mark's Pokémon swarmed their trainer and gave him a big hug, sobbing madly, "Don't worry guys," Mark reassured, "It ain't like I'm leaving this damn rock we call Faraday Island, I'm not going anywhere."

"Pikachu." Mark's Pikachu muttered.

"Plusle." muttered Plusle.

"Minun." muttered Minun.

Ash was lost. What did Mark meant by "not leaving?" He didn't wanna asked, instead he turned to Professor Oak, "Can you take care of my Pikachu when I'm gone?" he asked.

"I've always taken care of him, Ash." said Oak, "He was always a good friend. The Pokémon you have right now would be the last I would ever take care of. If somehow the world reverts to some normal state, I might as well retire. With Pokémon battling a thing of the past, I wonder how am I going to spend my golden years."

Professor Oak looked away for a moment, then turned to Delia, "What do you wanna do Mrs. Ketchum?"

Delia sighed, "He's my only son, and he's just a boy."

"He ain't a boy no more, Mrs. Ketchum," said Mark, "He hadn't been a boy since the day before our ancestors crawled out of their holes . . . hmm, to come to think of it, seeing Tesla fry what's left of my grandmother was the most hilarious thing I had ever saw in my entire life."

"What happened?" Misty asked.

Mark grinned, "Three or four decades ago, Tesla got into a bit of an accident. Every strand of hair was stripped from his body. I don't know what happened to him to temporary loose all his fur, but I know what happened after. My grandmother dressed him up in my father's baby clothes and took pictures. Irvin and my grandfather couldn't stop laughing. Tesla claimed he had never felt so angry since the day he lost his parents and siblings."

"Wow." said Misty.

Mark scratched his Pikachu's back and continued, "Barely a few hours into the apocalypse, I paid a visit to my dead relatives' grave. They came back, and they were hungry. I put a bullet in her head before I high-tailed it out of there with my friends. She'd laid rotting on the gravel road outside the cemetery until me and Ash, Brock, and Cilan arrive to take care of Tesla's problem with his trainer. When he saw her remains, he unleashed a powerful thunderbolt that vaporized the bones to smoldering ash," Mark could barely contain his laughter, "I couldn't help but laugh as my dad and his dad were caught between horror and humor."

"It was so random." said Ash.

"Pika." his Mouse Pokémon agreed.

Mark shook his head, "A Pokémon like Tesla either forgives or he don't, but there are exceptions. I didn't expect Tesla to burst into tears in my father's arms."

Ash glanced down at his bite, the wound had clotted and dried. No sign of necrosis, or any other kind of infection, was present. Still, the bite now felt prickly, like a thousands pins poking it all at once. Ash placed a finger on it. The area in and around the bite had lost all feeling to it, yet it still felt hot to the touch. There was still hope, but barely. It could be false. But any hope was better than no hope, Ash needed to get his friends to safety. Time was running out.

"Should there be a backup generator or something?" Ash asked.

"There might be," said Mark, "All we gotta do is find it."

Mark got to his feet and stretched, "I have a hunch where it could be, all drawbridges are required to have a backup generator in case of an emergency. The generator is either mounted on the roof or outside, protected by a white weather-proof box. It would be locked with a simple pad-lock, I can pick the lock easily."

Mark head to the stairwell and climbed up towards the roof, Ash decided to get up and follow him. When he got to the roof, he found the letters SOS were painted on the gravel roof. So someone did camped here, probably its his or her blood that stained the cot downstairs. Pikachu followed close behind, being very protective of his trainer. Ash almost walked over him as he wandered around on the roof, searching for Mark. There he was, picking the padlock of the white box he had mentioned. Mark easily defeated the lock and thrust it open.

"Bingo." said Mark.

The rest of the group came upstairs to see his find, "You think you can get it working?" Misty asked.

"I can get it working," said Mark, "This is a bio-diesel generator that produce twelve-kilowatts of power, more than enough to get the bridge moving," he inspected the generator, "Looks like it hadn't been tampered with, let's see if it can work."

Mark pressed the starter button, the generator started sputtering. He held it down for a few seconds, then it turned over. It produced a silent hum as it starts turning out energy into the building and bridge, Mark shut the cover which muffled the hum till it was almost non-existent, "Let's see if that did anything."

The lights were on when the group got back downstairs, Ash could feel the humming of the generator as it burned through what remaining fuel it had left. Mark went to the control panel and looked over the knobs and switches, "Let's see . . . uh, this should do it."

Mark pressed a button, the drawbridge shivered as the lights flickered. Ash could hear the generator sputter and coughed, threatening to conk out, "Damn," said Mark, "Not enough juice."

Emolga hopped up on the control panel and her cheeks sparked with live electricity, "EMOLGA!"

Mark jumped back as she thunder-shocked the control panel, the lights popped and the generator blew out. The drawbridge groaned loudly as both halves came down by their own weight, they crashed into each other so hard that the earth shook. Disturbed by the tremor of the drawbridge, a dozen cars started screaming their burglar alarm in a mass orchestra of obnoxious beeps and squeals. It was so loud that the walls couldn't muffle all the noise.

Emolga stepped off the control panel, Ash could see her feet impressions were burned into the metal surface. The electronics were melted, smoldering smoke. No way it would ever work again, but it won't need to anymore.

"Emo!" Emolga sang as she presented the downed bridge.

_BOOM!_

Like someone flipping a switch, bright orange light flashed through the gaps of the barricade and lit up the room. The group ran outside and their jaws dropped.

The river caught fire.

"Idiot." Mark grumbled under his breath as they watched the inferno belch thick smoke into the sky, Emolga simply shrugged.

Ash saw the inferno barreled down both halves of the river like unfurling carpet, they towered over the drawbridge's support columns and the town over a hundred meters high like an evil spirit released from its thousand-something year prison. It smelled like barbecued zombies served with sulfur and manure. Ash wasn't deterred by the putrid stink, he didn't notice the smell as well as the heat and light. It felt like he was standing on the surface of the sun, the group backed away from the raging fire as thick embers flowed to the sky. They landed on top of nearby buildings, creating small flames. The flames grew quickly, consuming the abandoned stores and offices within minutes.

"Will that's ironic." Ash simply says.

The flames eased back down below the bridge and stabilized, but the smoke picked up, creating a wall of smoke that could be seen as far as Faraday City. The heat mostly subsided as fast as it boiled, cooling down to a toasty fireplace feel. Mark laughed hard, he picked up his Emolga and kissed her on the cheek, "Emolga," he spoke, "You little dumb piece of sh*t, I love you! I love you!"

"Emolga." Emolga giggled.

Mark smelled Emolga's fur, "Mmm, to come to think of it, I didn't know you smell quite tasty."

Emolga jumped as Mark jokingly nibbled her fur with his lips, Ash couldn't help but broke down laughing. The rest of the group saw the joke and broke down laughing. Mark and Ash's Pokémon couldn't help but laugh as well. Snivy tried to hold it in, but she felt. She smirked before laughter erupted out of her in one go. After so much bad news the group was relieved to have a moment of humor, it was gone as quick as it came.

"Look out!" Cilan cried.

Ash turned around and saw a dozen Undead Pikachus come crawling out of the abandoned buildings. Organs hanged out their bellies and chests as they charged forward, their eyes fixated with hunger. They roared a banshee-like wail as they ran in a straight line, and they sure move fast.

But not as fast as Ash drawing his pistol.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	46. Ch 46: Inferno

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLVI_

_Inferno_

Tesla knew something was wrong. Deep within his heart, his Pokémon instincts stir his spirit. He got out of the bed and looked out the window, he almost dropped from the shock.

"What the f*ck?" Tesla cursed.

A wall of fire towered over the town to the north, its many tongues lick the skies while belching out thick smoke. The black smoke rose so high that it blocked out the sun. Several buildings near the inferno erupted in flames, the fire consumed the stores, then moved to the next one. Once they were fully engulfed, the building next door follows. Then the next. And the next. And the next.

The last strings of sleep broke as Tesla realized what was happening, "The whole town's going up!"

The wildfire would eventually reach the Pokémon Center. If it wasn't lost before, it was now. There was no time to lose, Tesla bolted out of the room and rounded up every Pokémon Center Pikachu he could find. After doing a quick count, he led his little pack out of the building. The surviving humans and Pokémon stopped burning corpses and turn their attention to the large inferno before them. They watched in agony as the inferno gobbled anything the Undead hadn't destroyed. What was left of home now floated in the sky, blanketing its shadow over Carson.

Before anyone could notice, Tesla and his Pikachu herd bolted down the road. They were long gone when panic taken hold of the remaining Carson residents.

**. . .**

Twenty minutes after its sudden birth, the fire reached the nearby forest. Once it taken hold of lush green firewood, the inferno grew to monstrous heights. Normally the Pokémon living in the wilderness would panic and flee from the flames. But they had already died, and returned to the world as Undead. They limped and trailed in a random course through the forest, they didn't notice the fire as it draw near. The smoke shrouded the trees and caught the Undead Pokémon without warning. It didn't deter them, instead it confused them momentary before changing direction.

The fire consumed them without a case of panic, their bodies roast and burned. A few zombies realized they were on fire, they reacted by swinging their rotting arms, assuming they had any. As the fire eat to their bones, their joints stiffen and locked up from the heat. The Undead Pokémon flopped over as the fire cooked their brains. What should be a violent agonizing death was instead a peaceful one, as they no longer feel pain.

As the Undead Pokémon were getting fried, the inferno moved on towards Faraday City. Tracey and Gary's campsite was caught in its path. Plastic melted, wood blackened and crumbled. Huge plumes of burning fragments of paper were carried up into the sky as the camp became an unrecognizable heaps of ash.

The Westinghouse farm, the destination of Ash Ketchum's group, was right on the edge of the fire. The flames claimed the nearby trees surrounding the lone farmhouse. Being at least 20 to 70 meters away from the fire, and resting on a small hill, the farmhouse was spared from the fire. The Pokémon graveyard, the garden, and the barn weren't so lucky. Tucked away in or near the forest, they were burned.

It didn't take long for Emmett Kissinger to realize what was happening. A scout reported seeing the wall of fire right when it sprouted to life. The Faraday City Fire Department was called in. Several firetrucks rolled out of the many fire stations with their lights flashing, yet their sirens were silent. They were escorted by SWAT teams and regular police officers. The cruisers and armored cars guard the fire trucks as they trailed down the deserted roads of the city, heading towards a new battlefront. Not only the firefighters and police officers must hold the fire at bay, but the Undead as well, for they would come swarming once they see potential prey all spread out like a buffet table.

Thirty minutes after being deployed, the fire was coming in fast. However, not a single Undead hadn't showed up yet. It had the defenders stumped. They wondered where the Undead was. As they were radioing in to their superiors of the situation, several Undead started wondering out. As the police officers took aim, their jaws dropped as a horde of Undead Pokémon blasted out of the forest.

They didn't look like Pokémon, not anymore. They looked more like swamp creatures after being drowned in mud. Their quadruped and bi-petal bodies made them look alien, their red eyes glared as they charged in a hungry frenzy.

The commanding officer didn't gave out the order to fire, he didn't need to, the cops indiscriminately open fire upon the wave of Undead Pokémon.

Just when they barely finished with the first wave, the 2nd wave arrived, with the wildfire right behind them. Now dealing with a one-two punch assault, an order was given to call in all the able-bodied men, women, and Pokémon to fight. Just as reinforcements arrived, everyone looked up in the sky and saw that it changed from orange to red.

Red as the eyes of a zombie.

**. . .**

"They're coming in a steady stream!" Cilan cried as he fumbled a fresh clip into his pistol.

"Pansage!" Pansage cried.

With the fire at their backs and the zombies at their front, the group were pinned. Thankfully this zombie horde wasn't as packed as the one chasing them earlier. Ash kept a steady hand as he dropped several Walkers with a careful shot. Pikachu unleashed an occasional Thunderbolt when a cluster of zombies started jogging all at once. The electric attack stunned the zombies, their bodies jerked and tremor violently as the electricity pulsed through their dead nerves. The group took the opportunity to put them down, they only need to fire a few shots.

"Okay," said Brock, "That's all of the first wave."

"The zombies aren't coming in from the other side of the river," said Cilan, he peered passed the river fire and checked for any stray zombies. He didn't see any, "I think its clear over there."

"I can smell the zombies coming in from our side," said Mark, "A second wave's not far."

The car alarms continued to blare in the distance, attracting more Undead with each beep. Smoke from the fire burned Ash's nose and mouth, yet his lungs felt fine. Oshawott was coughing from the smoke, his other Pokémon appeared more worried about the Undead. Pikachu looked up at Ash for the gazillionth time with a sad face. What's left of the Mouse Pokémon's heart was rotting in the pit of his stomach.

Ash checked his bite again, the blood had clotted to form black blotches that lined the teeth impressions. The bite didn't felt so hot anymore, it felt numb. Ash flexed his left hand, it still had some feeling but the pain receptors in it, was too, beginning to shut down.

He couldn't tell exactly how much time he had, but he could tell that he still had plenty, maybe enough to get him passed the day. Ash still didn't feel sick. Strangely, he felt better than before. Before the bite, he felt he was done for. After an hour of being bit, that depression seemed to had lifted. It was replaced by cloudy thoughts, the kind one gets from a dream. Reality was started to feel more of a dream, of a fantasy. But he was awake. This was all real, but it didn't feel so real anymore.

The fire raging in the river calmed even more, Ash felt the air cooled as the inferno began to stabilize. He looked into the river. The toxic sludge was glowing orange and red, filled with black blobs of boiled pollutants. It smelled like burnt plastic and styrofoam, and it flowed like lava from a volcano.

_Lava_, Ash thought, _It flows like lava. _

He turned to his friends and sighed, "You guys go on ahead, me and Mark would stay here and hold them off."

His friends and Pokémon's jaws dropped. Mark didn't react much, he kept his cool as he watched his own Pokémon drop into disbelief.

Delia's expression appeared more shocked than the others combined, "What?" she asked in a weak and squeaky voice.

"I'm not going to make it, Mom," said Ash, "There's no way we can change that, take my friends out to the farm and hunker down there. Me and Mark would hold back the horde as long as we can, I wish there could be another way. I'm sorry, Mom, there few options here."

Mark shook his head, "He's right, Mrs. Ketchum, there's no room for argument. It's either us or all."

Delia stared at Ash for a moment, she burst into tears as she grasped him in a tight hug. Ash hugged her back and whispered into her ear, "Get my Pokémon out of here, keep them safe."

"I will, Ash," said Delia, "I will."

Delia Ketchum kissed Ash in the cheek, then turned to Pikachu and the Unova Pokémon team, "Let's get you guys out of here."

Their eyes exploded, they started waving their arms and frantically plead. A waterfall of tears trail down their faces as they plead. Mark's Pokémon also pleaded to their trainer, he didn't show much of an emotion as he picked Emolga up and cradled him with an uninjured arm, "Be a good girl, Emolga," he said to her as he wiped a tear off her face, "Get them to the farm, and lock the doors. I know you can pull it together in this new world, I believe in you."

The Sky Squirrel Pokémon gave a sheepish nod, "Emolga."

Mark sat Emolga down, she regrouped with Mark's Pokémon and looked back. Their eyes were so adorable that Ash looked away. Too late. The image was already burned into his eyes.

His friend's surrounded Ash and gave him a group hug, he caught a glimpse of his Pokémon joining in. The thought of Dawn, May, Max, and Tracey flooded his mind, he wished he was here with the others, "You better go guys," said Ash, "Before I lose my mind and . . . you know."

"Please stay in one piece," said Misty, "so we have a body to bury in the end."

"I'll figure something out."

As his friends stepped back, Professor Oak shook Ash's hand, "If you managed to hold them off," he said, "and you have a little more time, you know where to find us."

"Hopefully I still have my soul," said Ash, "take care, Professor Oak. You've always been a good friend, you were there when I needed you."

A loud growl echoed in Carson, it was coming from the direction where they had came. A horde was imminent, "Go guys," said Ash, "get out of here!"

"Keep my Pokémon safe," said Mark, "I had them forever."

"We will." said Brock.

The group turned towards the bridge and hurried across, when they got halfway across Mark and Ash's Pokémon stopped and looked back at their trainers. They held it for a second before turning back towards the group and followed them along. They turned a corner and vanished out of sight.

Ash felt Mark placed his hand on his shoulder, "I had never seen such loyalty before in my life, I wish I had friends like yours. My friends on the island weren't so trustworthy," he let out a sigh, "and I want them back."

They turned back towards the town, several buildings had caught fire. The flames flicker up into the sky as the growling moans of Undead became more apparent, "How many do you think are there?" Ash asked Mark.

"About a hundred or a couple hundred," he replied, "Give or take. If we keep a steady aim, we can hold them back.

Ash upholstered his AR-15 and cocked it, "Can we _really _hold them back."

Mark shrugged, "Honestly, I doubt it."

**. . .**

Several zombies were popping out of the woodwork, but Natas sent them back with a .22 round in their skulls. He reloaded the pistol, then jogged down the street. Whoever started that fire was really smart about it, cause its burning down Carson and clouding the streets with a noxious fog. Small puffs of fire were sprouting like weeds on anything that could burn, he ran passed a toppled tanker truck. It had bled its ethanol load around itself. Being a month old, it still had enough potency to catch fire. It wasn't spectacular, it only rose 3 or 7 centimeters off the ground, but it was enough to block Natas's path. He had to find another way through.

Natas ran into an abandoned store and did a quick search, he grabbed the red fire extinguisher off the wall and examined it. It contained carbon dioxide, a trained eye can tell by the large cylindrical nozzle at the end of its hose. It weighed somewhere around 2 kilograms, it was light enough for Natas to carry but there wasn't much Co2 in store. He had to use it sparingly.

When Natas left the store, a couple of Flamer Pokémon zombies had wondered into the street. Their roasted charred bodies somehow kept the flames engulfing them in an everlasting burn, their skin sizzled and popped as they wondered in circles, letting out periodic groans. Their feet burned into the asphalt, leaving behind smoking footprints from every step.

Natas crouched and sneaked behind an abandoned car, the Flamers had their backs turned to him as they stared up at the sky. Their feet liquified the asphalt, turning it into bubbling hot tar. The puddle acted like quicksand, it was up to the Flamer's ankles. They didn't realize they were trapped, they were too deep in their zombie stupor to even notice a potential meal coming from behind them.

_I hope this works_. Natas thought.

He pulled the safety pin off the fire extinguisher then fished out its hose, Natas stepped out of hiding and carefully stepped behind the Flamers. The heat they give off was excruciating, Natas felt his face dry up the closer he got to the mutant fire-types. He aimed the hose at the Flamers, he held his breath and squeezed the lever.

A thick cold cloud of Co2 blasted out the hose and engulfed the Flamers, it quickly put out their suit of fire. The Flamers yelped and screamed alien monster noises and they hunched over. Stuck in the road, their legs snapped off as they toppled over. The Flamers squealed and growled in agony as twitched and shook their arms, like they were having a seizure. Natas jumped back when their skull caps exploded, sending chunks of burnt brain matter and fire in the air of a tiny mushroom cloud. The Flamers hissed and lay still, they were finished.

"Wow," Natas said to himself, "Didn't expect that to happen."

He heard some growling nearby, Natas looked up. Another Flamer, this time a quadruped, stared back at him, red eyes glowing. It breathed in the stale air and unleashed its fiery breath. Natas dodged rolled away from the Flamethrower's path and blasted the Flamer with a puff of Co2, the Flamer seized up and its head popped off.

Natas coughed from the the putrid smoke of the Flamethrower as he ran off, the snarling and moaning of more Flamers were right behind him. He made several turns, placing more careful shots in more zombie foreheads. The moans of the Undead grew louder, the horde he'd been dreading since morning was not that far now.

He stumbled into the burning river in question. Natas pinched his nose, it smelled worse than a thousand corpses, "Well here's the river," Natas said to himself, "Now, where's Ash?"

**. . .**

The group continued running as fast as they can, the humans lead the way as the Pokémon bring up the rear. Pikachu didn't feel like continuing on. In fact, he didn't feel like doing anything else. The thought of Ash gripped his mind and heart with an iron fist. The trainer who he'd been close friends with for so long had his fate sealed. There were many close calls in the past where Ash had brushed against death, and plenty more during the apocalypse. This time, there was no way of saving him. Ash was a goner, nothing he could do about it.

_Nothing I can do. _Pikachu thought.

Pikachu stopped and looked back towards the drawbridge, it lazily hovered over the river of burning sludge. He turned back towards the group, they continued running, getting smaller and smaller, with each step. The Mouse Pokémon shook his head, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to be with Ash till his final moments, he didn't want him to die alone. If Pikachu goes back, it would also mean the end of him. If he continued with the group, he would be faced with a pointless existence. Trusted friends or not. None of them won't replace Ash.

_What should I do? _Pikachu thought as he asked his heart.

Then it came to him, he knew what to do.

**. . .**

Professor Oak turned around and saw Pikachu running back towards the drawbridge. His eyes shot open, what was he doing!?

"Pikachu," he called out to him, "Come back!"

His calls fell on deaf ears, the Mouse Pokémon kept right on running.

"Holy!" cried Cilan.

Professor Oak turned around and jumped, another horde of zombies was coming from around the corner. The Walkers locked onto the group and stretched out their arms, unleashing a hungry groan in a mass broken synchrony.

"Run!" cried Brock.

"Oshawott!" cried Oshawott.

The Sea Otter Pokémon ran to a random direction, Snivy chased after him. Scraggy and Pignite quickly took notice and went after him, Pansage tried to leap off Cilan's shoulder to chase after them but his trainer caught him in time, "No, Pansage," said Cilan, "Don't!"

"Pansage!" the Grass Monkey Pokémon sobbed, they were probably his last Pokémon friends in the world.

Axew hugged Iris in dear panic, "Axew!" the Tusks Pokémon cried.

"This way!" cried Brock.

The humans and Mark's Pokémon went back, then made a detour as Ash's remaining Pokémon ran down a separate street. The group was now split in three, the Undead had them pinned in the burning remnants of civilization.

**. . .**

The zombies strolled up to the drawbridge, attracted by the sound of car alarms. As they wandered into the vicinity, the smell of human beings trailed their noses. They turned to the control building of the drawbridge. The Undead horde approached a couple of wooden barriers and started to rip down the boards.

A burst of bullets greeted them, one for each skull they kissed. The zombies dropped, more of their brethren heard the gunshots and started heading over to investigate.

Ash lowered his AR-15 and sighed. He and Mark were sitting on folding chairs, watching the zombies pop their heads through the boarded windows. They occasionally fire at them, driving them back while having a calm moment.

"About 4 months ago," said Mark as he slipped 9mm bullets into his magazine clip, "Me and Henry went out to the outskirts of Faraday City to a little town that hadn't quite make it on the map. The place was dark, virtually no outdoor lighting whatsoever. We were after these group of kids who'd been causing terror in our neighborhood. Breaking stuff, making a lot of noise, stuff like that."

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"Emolga took delivery on providing cover fire while we raid the backyard of the leader's house. I got to the fuse box and cut the power, then Emolga shot the leader himself. He was a fat kid, somewhere around your age. She just pinged him in the cheek with a plastic BB. He screamed and sank into a hot tub, when me and Henry peppered the rest with paintballs and BB pellets.

"Now we came into that backyard through a gate at the side of the house. Thing is, they shut the gate on us. So when it was time to leave, I hopped over the fence and ran for the truck as Henry cannon-balled through it like an idiot, leaving a big maw for the parents to find. Our Pokémon regrouped with us at the truck, we barely got out of there just to show face," Mark slipped the magazine into his pistol and cocked it, "Poor Emolga, she hurt her crotch somehow when coming down from that tree. When we leaped back into the back of my pickup, I think the butt of one of our airsoft or paintball guns or my knee slammed into it again. I forgot which. All I know was that she was hurt. When we got back to Henry's house, we got her a bag of ice for her to numb the pain."

"So what did you do next?" Ash asked.

Mark grinned, "We simply hanged out at the doorstep of the house, taking potshot at cans while tending to our Pokémon. The next thing we know, there was a convoy of 10 to 14 year old kids on electric scooters coming down the road, with the angry fat kid leading the way. So we came up with a plan to ambush them. I sent Emolga to hide in the bushes around where we thought they were gonna be. When they showed up, she fired a BB and pinged the fat kid in the eye.

Mark held up his gun and shot a zombie as it came close to the window, the back of its head exploded as it dropped to the ground, "He went down like a ton of bricks, taking out the rest of the convoy with him. Me and Henry burst out of hiding and peppered them with paintballs and BB pellets again. They got on their scooters while we were nailing them and drove off, after getting a kilometer from the neighborhood the police caught them red-handed.

"All the kids wound up getting 200 hours of community service while the fat kid went to juvenile corrections. Turns out there was a fault in their power box, so when they turned it back on a circuit breaker shorted and their house burned down. Their insurance doesn't cover electrical fires so the parents were broke. The next thing they knew their car was disabled after somebody decided to urinate in the car's ethanol tank. I think it was an estimate of three-hundred and fifty thousand pokédollars of damages.

Ash raised an eyebrow, somewhat lost, "That is both funny and horrible at the same time."

"Oh," said Mark, "The husband discovered that his wife was cheating on him before hand, so they got a divorce."

_What in the world? _Ash thought, then something crossed his mind. "Oh, why did the kids get community service?"

Mark just looked at Ash, "They were assholes, they had been raking in the accounts of vandalism charges for weeks. About time they got what they deserved, my Dad was so proud that he gave me a thousand pokédollars. I stashed it away in a waterpoof fire-box in the crawlspace of my house, I think its still there. I'm not sure if its any good to me now."

Ash glanced at Mark's bite wound, the flesh in and around it had the surface of a brick. It showed no sign of necrosis, Mark's crude cauterizing technique seemed to work. Ash glanced at his own bite. The skin around it looked dehydrated with a reddish tint, the bite marks raised up around its edges, making it look like tiny craters. They had turned green while giving off a yellowish slime. Ash smelled it, he almost gagged.

"Hey Mark," he asked, "How do you make of this?"

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Make of what?"

Ash showed him the unusual discoloration and texture of the bite, "That looks like a staph infection, a pretty bad one. Eventually it would lead to blood poisoning and gangrene if it ain't treated."

"How long had since we were bitten?"

"About 4 hours now, zombification sometimes take longer for some people. You seemed to have a high resistance to the zombie plague, you feel any signs of a fever?"

Ash shook his head, "No."

Mark shrugged, "Me neither, I think I'm lucky to."

Ash noticed a First Aid Kit on the wall, he got up and rummage through it. He pulled out some antibiotics and smeared some of it over his bite with a cotton ball, then wrapped it up with gauze. He taped it down with medical tape before putting everything back in the First Aid Kit.

"That should buy me some time." said Ash as hanged the kit back on the wall.

"No telling how long." said Mark.

"You sure you need to wrap yours up?"

Mark shook his head, "Don't need to, mine's cauterized. That's all the bandaging I would ever need."

A board smashed loose as a zombie stuck its arm in, followed by another. Ash saw the hordes were coming upon the small building in a wave, attacking all at once. Mark simply got up and held up his pistol, "Take your time," he said in a relaxed voice, "we have all day."

Ash snickered, "This may be our final stand and you use sarcasm?"

Mark frowned, "That's one of the few things I'm good at!"

**. . .**

The stubby little feet of the Sea Otter Pokémon wasn't getting it anywhere fast, Oshawott stopped for a moment and panted. When he looked back, he saw nobody there. No zombies, no people, no Pokémon. He was alone. The sky above him glowed a vicious red as the sun trickled towards the horizon. If it wasn't an apocalypse before, it was now. Oshawott dropped to his knees and let out a mournful cry. Everything was gone. His trainer was on a mad march towards Undeath, his friends were loosing their sanity, everybody he once knew or barely known were either dead or Undead.

"Osha Wot . . ." Oshawott muttered. _There's so much . . . blood._

The utopic world he once known had turn into a dystopic nightmare. Whatever was left burned around him, while the line between good and evil faded. It was all too much, Pokémon battling was long gone. His Pokémon training might help him fend off the Undead. But on how to find food and fresh water, he had yet to learn. Well, he better learn fast, a single mishap would be the end of him.

Oshawott coughed, the air was choked with smoke and pollutants from the river. It was dumb for Emolga to do that. Then again. If she hadn't fried the control panel, the bridge would had stayed up, and the river would still catch fire anyway. It was coming, can't argue her about that. The Sea Otter Pokémon shuffled through the deserted street, kicking up dust and soot in his path. He navigate around the wrecked cars and rotting corpses while constantly looking over his shoulder, Oshawott felt his bones shiver to the point they might shatter in fear. He never felt so scared in his life. Sure, he had several scares before, but there wasn't going to be an end to this one.

The smell of burning plastic hit him like a roaring freight train. Oshawott peered over a rusted car and contained his scream. Several burning Undead Pokémon were wandering around. Flamers, was that the Pokédex called them? Seeing them being roasted by their inferno suits caused Oshawott's belly to churn, it felt like it was imploding till it turned inside out. Oshawott tried to look away, but he couldn't move. His muscles were locked, fixed in place by terror. The Sea Otter Pokémon's eyes bulged till the white of his pupils touched the edges.

Eventually the Flamers wandered off, leaving behind burning footprints in the street. When the last of the Flamers limped out of sight, it took Oshawott 5 minutes for him to relax.

"Whew." Oshawott simply sighed, then he turned around.

A sick slime covered thing stood before him. It was no taller than Oshawott, to the looks of it, its outline was similar to his. Its red eyes, the only prominent feature on its body, stared back at Oshawott with desire. It slurped a deep breath, air bubbled out of its chest as its lungs expand. Oshawott saw what it was doing. Before the thing could unleash its yucky bile, Oshawott took a stand, "Oshawott!"

The Sea Otter Pokémon unleashed a blast of water, it blasted the thing back. The water washed away the slime, revealing the familiar features of his own form. In a split second, the mutant zombie crashed into an abandoned car and exploded. The blast put out the fires as the concussion shot muck everywhere, what was left of the thing were a slimy pair of stubby legs, buttocks, and a tail.

Oshawott looked closer, he realized the zombie used to be an Oshawott. His own kind! It was dead now, fully dead. Its misery was over. Oshawott felt a tear trail down his face, for him, his misery was only just beginning.

He hobbled over to an abandoned building and made his way inside, stale air and sulfur hit his button nose. The Sea Otter Pokémon covered it and looked around. It was another abandoned store. Like the others, it was picked to the bone. Oshawott searched the smashed and toppled shelving for food and water, he was extremely hungry. He didn't find anything, not even a water bottle. When he pushed the bathroom door open, he found blood smeared all over the tile floor. Though it was long dried, he didn't wanna step in it. Oshawott backed out and shut the door.

Oshawott knew the way towards the Westinghouse farm, he could find it on his own. But with Flamers on the prowl, and other ghastly cadavers sniffing about, he doubted he could survive the trip. Topping it off was the firestorm, which was probably burning down Carson and part of the forest surrounding it. Oshawott needed a plan. Any plan. But first, he had to get his bearings.

Once he found the stairs to the roof, Oshawott climbed up and confronted a metal door at the top. He jumped and turned the knob, using his momentum to push the door open. It swung open with ease, Oshawott jumped down and closed it, just in case any Undead was down below.

The fire burned in the south and west. It lined along the river, a few buildings close to the fire were catching embers and going up in smoke. Oshawott felt the wind, it seemed like the wind was blowing towards the fire. Unless it changed direction, the fire shouldn't burn towards him. Oshawott let out a yawn, he was tired, this roof should be a good spot to rest for a few minutes.

Oshawott looked around and found the highest spot with a flat surface, he climbed up on an air conditioning unit and hopped onto it. He wasn't sure if the zombies could still get him. Well, this was the best he could do. The Sea Otter Pokémon lied down and used an arm as a pillow, then cried himself to sleep.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	47. Ch 47: Almost Ready for Anything

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLVII_

_Almost Ready for Anything_

"They're trying to get in!"

_THUNK!_

A crossbow bolt burrowed into a zombie's skull and shot out the back, the corpse slumped over the window sill in a second. Ash kicked the body back outside and slap a board on the window, Mark sat aside his crossbow and quickly nailed it back in place, "Get the other boards!" cried Mark.

Ash held up more boards as Mark nailed them in place, once the barriers were fixed they grabbed their weapons and tend to the others. The zombies clawed away at the barricades, every time the duo killed off a dozen zombies more seem to come in to replace them. The car alarms had went dead a long time ago, but the noise from their gunshots were enough to attract more. Ash took the butt of his AR-15 and smashed the Undead's faces as they tried to reach in. When a board broke loose, Ash grabbed it and help Mark nail it back on.

"How much ammo you have left?" Mark asked.

Ash checked his ammo, "Just a couple clips left for my AR-15, and a few more clips for my pistol."

Mark pulled back the crossbow's string and load another bolt, "You still have that knife?"

"Yeah."

"Use it."

Mark aimed the crossbow out the window and fired, a zombie caught it in the eye and it dropped, "I wish I had some cola right now." he muttered as he reload.

Ash aimed at a group of zombies around eye level and gave off short-round bursts. The zombies went down from each burst, dropping like flies. He slipped in his last 5.56mm magazine and dropped the spent one on the ground, then switched back to semi-auto, _Make every shot count, Ash. _Ash told himself.

When the 2nd wave came, Ash held his breath and took careful aim with the red-dot sight. He tapped the trigger. Every shot found its way in a zombie's brain, turning part of them into jelly. Sometimes their heads snapped back, a few let out a death grunt before dropping. Strange, every zombie death was unique. It might had to do with the way their brains were wired in life. That might explain Mark's cousin's case, how it managed to use a fire ax and use a gun. What was significant about it? Would someone find the answer?

Not anytime soon.

Something banged against the front door. With one solid blow, the door frame cracked. The 2nd blow forced the door open, and a zombie fell into the room. Ash was horrified. The zombie was stripped of its skin, exposing its skeletal muscles. It wore the tattered remains of a jumpsuit, probably he was a mechanic or a plumber. Whatever was his occupation, it looked like he had taken a bath in the river of muck days before, and it had been a while since he last got out. It sprang on its feet and charged at Ash, he whipped out his Westinghouse knife and stabbed it square into one of its red eyes.

The thing yelped and hissed, Ash caught a whiff of its breath. It made him feel sick to his stomach, "Ugh." Ash said as he kicked the corpse back, it flopped to the floor with a crack. A bone must had broke, no surprise since it was so horribly decomposed.

"Damn," Mark complained, "When's the last time this guy had a bath?"

"I'm not touching it." said Ash.

Mark grabbed a hammer off the workbench and smashed the claw end into the corpse's rib cage, "Cover me, will yah?"

Ash got out as Mark dragged the corpse out of the building. When they stepped out, they were stunned at the color of the sky, "It's red," said Ash, "Like, pure red!"

"Sometimes the sky turns red during a wildfire," said Mark, "The river fire must had spread farther than we thought."

The street cracked and imploded, shooting out a column of thick dust in the air. When the dust clear, it revealed a sinkhole, it was so large that it stretched over both lanes of the road. Zombies began crawling out, their bodies were bloated and rotted from long periods of decay. How did a horde broke through the street like that? If Cilan were here, he would lose his mind over this.

"Okay," said Mark, "I got it out."

He pulled the hammer out of the corpse and flung it at a zombie, it arched through the air and lodged its claw end deep into the forehead of a ghoul. It fell backwards, limbs spread out, "Like a boss." Mark chuckled.

The third wave of zombies charged, flinging their arms while wailing like a banshee. Before Ash could squeeze off a shot, a bright powerful blast of yellow lighting came down from the sky and struck the Undead horde. Ash's ears went deaf from the concussion while electricity sparked and cracked everywhere. The zombies were tossed like rag dolls in all directions while the electricity fried their brains till their heads explode. Ash recognized it. It was Thunder, a powerful electric-type move. Once mastered, Thunder can knock an opponent on its rear end, sometimes it can paralyze them.

It no doubt obliterated the zombie horde with a single go, when the last of the Walkers dropped none of them got back up. Mark laughed and cheered, "Sooie! That's a big one!"

Ash scratched his head, "Where did that come from?"

A familiar squeaky voice chirped into his ears, it made him jump out of his skin and his heart skip a beat, "Pika Pi!"

Ash spun 180 degrees on his heels and saw his Pikachu standing before him. The Mouse Pokémon was all amped up, panting heavily. His eyes twinkled underneath the glow of the fire, filled with fresh tears. A mix of thoughts and emotions flooded Ash's brain. What was Pikachu doing here!? Why wasn't he with the others? A part of Ash wanted to scold Pikachu for disobeying him. But he couldn't. He knew why Pikachu came back. Its not about safety, it's about faith. Pikachu had been with Ash for a long time, forming a bond so close that no bond with other Pokémon wouldn't come close, not even by a thousand kilometers.

The trainer and the Mouse Pokémon stood there for what felt like eternity. Ash didn't need to say anything, Pikachu understood the message. Ash simply nodded and raised his gun.

_BOOM!_

Pikachu spun around and saw a zombie flopped on the asphalt, the Mouse Pokémon stood there in shock, not believing he almost became zombie food.

"Ash," said Mark, "I'm surprised that Pikachu hadn't married you yet."

Ash laughed, so did Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon got on all fours and leaped back up on Ash's shoulders like old times, "How come you hadn't married your Emolga?"

"Pika?" Pikachu added.

Mark shook his head, "I don't want jealousy among my other Pokémon, that's not how Pokémon friendships works anyway."

A loud howl screamed in the distance, Ash spotted a zombie coming around the corner. It wore a tattered long-sleeved shirt, its pants was stripped away, revealing necrotic legs. It stumbled and limped as it hobbled towards the three. Mark raised his crossbow and sunk a bolt into its eye socket, "More of 'em coming," he said, "let's get those barriers fixed."

**. . .**

He heard the gunshots, they sounded in brief and exaggerated intervals. Natas tried to pin down the source. It wasn't hard. The Undead were heading towards the same direction he was. He managed to slip out of the street and made his way to the rooftops of the local store chain, hopefully his free-running lessons would pay off.

They had, Natas jogged across the rooftops and leaped over small gaps between the abandoned stores. Several small fires blocked his path, Natas managed to snuff them out with his fire extinguisher. As he feared, the extinguisher ran out of Co2 after tackling the heavy abuse. Natas dropped it on the roof and head back down to search for another one. He managed to find a new one on the wall, it was slightly bigger than the last extinguisher. Natas grabbed it off the rack. Ooh, a little heavier too. This fire extinguisher might hadn't been used before. Until now.

When Natas got back on the roof, he continued on. He heaved the fire extinguisher's nozzle at the flames and cleared a path. He decided to look back, his jaw dropped. The fires he put out had returned, and were growing in strength. Natas almost panicked. This time he ran, vaulting over the gaps and other obstacles across the roofs. Up ahead, the store chain stopped at a street corner. Natas approached the edge and looked down, "Damn, that's one big sinkhole."

And there were rotting Walkers crawling out of it, great.

The gunshots sounded again, this time they were close. Natas turned towards the sound, just across the street at the opposite corner, several zombies were clawing at the boarded windows of the drawbridge's control building as someone shot at them from inside. Natas saw the bridge was lowered, had Ash and his group got it down? He wasn't sure if it was them, until he heard the squeaky voice of his Pikachu screaming from the control building, "They're in there," he said to himself, "But something wasn't right."

Natas noticed that only one gun was firing, he saw an arrow fly out through the gaps of a boarded up window and shot into a zombie's skull. The zombie dropped to its knees and collapsed on its face.

That Mark kid is in there too, but he couldn't hear the cries of an Emolga or Cheering Pokémon. Natas scratched his head, something wasn't right . . . oh, now he remembered. Mark and Ash were bitten, maybe they had split up from the main group because of their fate. Smart move. It sounded like Ash's Pikachu decided to stay with his trainer for his remaining hours, which made carrying out his task a lot easier. Natas couldn't believe his luck, though a part of him didn't wanna carry out the Boss's task. Luke shook his head, they were screwed anyway. Pikachus tend not to let loved ones go, so they pretty much mark their death warrants when this sh*t happens.

Natas wondered how he was going to do it, how was he going to do it? The Boss specifically wanted it to be dramatic, there was something he needed for the task to be successful. What was it? When Natas reached up to scratch his head again, his arm brushed against the butt of the double-barreled shotgun, still slung onto his back . . . oh, that shotgun. He had almost forgotten about it, he had a couple of boxes of shells for it. He also had the two buckshot and deer slug shells still in his pocket, the ones given to him by Ash at the Pokémon Center a week ago . . .

_Of course, _Natas thought, _it had to be that gun._

He wondered why he even snatched it from that squad car in the first place.

**. . .**

Pikachu did his best by using Thundershock to stun any Undead who got an arm through the barriers, Ash followed it up by smashing their faces with the butt of his AR-15. The boards were holding this time, but he heard more Undead coming his way. Mark had slung his crossbow on his back and drew his 9mm pistol, Ash saw the .357 magnum tucked in his pants. Its chrome finished shined from the flashes of Mark's gunshots.

Eventually Ash's AR-15 ran out of ammo, he fired the last round square between the eyes of an Undead. The bullet blew out the back of its skull and struck another Undead behind it. Two bodies dropped from one bullet, if only someone was keeping score.

"I'm out of 5.56 millimeters," said Ash, he pulled out the empty magazine, set the safety back on, and pulled the bolt back before setting the AR-15 on the workbench. He pulled out his pistol and unscrewed its suppressor, then flick the safety off.

"I'm running low on ammo," said Mark, "I only have one full clip left for my 9mm."

Ash pointed at Mark's magnum, "You have any ammo for that .357?"

Mark smiled, "I have plenty in my backpack."

_Maybe we can use that for our final stand. _Ash thought, but didn't say.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cried.

A zombie smashed a stump of what's left of a hand through the barrier. It cracked a couple of boards, they broke free and clattered to the floor. That zombie then head-butt a third board, it popped off the frame with one go. Ash focused the pistol's red-dot sight at the zombie and sent it back to the Netherworld, "How much energy you have left Pikachu?" Ashed.

"Pika . . ." Pikachu said sorrowfully, he sounded tired, he was out of electricity for the moment.

Maybe there might not be another moment.

No matter, Ash ran up to the window and aimed his pistol and rapid-fired the gun. Several Undead dropped as they made a charge towards the building, their monstrous voices filling the apocalyptic sky. It won't be long till a massive zombie horde comes marching down that road and find a meal kicking and screaming. Well, meals that were barely fresh. They might not be too interested in Pikachus, but who says the Living Dead were picky. Not Tesla, not Dr. Rosenberg on the TV, not anyone.

Ash stepped a little too close to the barricade and several decaying human arms reached in for a mad grab for Pikachu, he jumped back in time. Pikachu squeal was muffled by the Walker's growls, their red eyes pointed at him, _Okay_, Ash thought, _they're that interested after all_.

"Pika." Pikachu breathed from the close call.

"How many are out there?" Ash thought out loud.

"Probably almost every denizen of Carson." said Mark.

"No way we can take all of them on."

Mark grunted, "You can say that again."

A zombie busted through a barrier and stuck his arms in, Mark gave it a sharp kick to the chest. The zombie smashed its head as it was thrown back outside, it didn't get back up. Suddenly Mark placed a hand on his head and stumbled back, Ash quickly took notice and asked, "Are you alright, Mark?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

Mark didn't respond, he just hunched over, pressing his hand against his temple, "Damn." he finally muttered.

And then he collapsed on the floor.

"Mark!" cried Ash.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu.

Ash drop to his knees and turn Mark on his back, then check for a pulse. He found none. He tried doing chest compressions for 30 seconds, then check again for a pulse. Still nothing.

"Holy." Ash muttered.

Mark was gone, he just fell over and died.

Ash sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend it. Mark wasn't immune after all, his cauterizing technique did little to stop the infection. He just shook his head and sighed, Mark was his friend.

Just as a zombie tried to get in, Ash raised his pistol and blew out its skull. The zombie thumped to the floor while others tried to get in. There was no time to mourn, the building was getting overrunned. Ash quickly grabbed Mark's 9mm pistol, his remaining ammunition, and the .357 magnum. He shoved it all into Mark's backpack, then pulled it off his corpse. Ash grabbed Mark's crossbow and sat it on the workbench, he won't be needing it.

Finally, Ash grabbed Mark's .22 rifle off his back. He checked the magazine, just 5 bullets. That was it. The others had the rest . . . no wait, he had plenty more in his backpack. Ash shook his head, how could he forgotten about the rifle and its ammo?

To come to think of it, he wasn't thinking straight. Was that a sign of zombification? Ash had to assume it was, he was running out of time.

Just as the zombies were getting in, Ash carried Mark's backpack and rifle upstairs. Pikachu hang tight to his shoulder as they got on the roof and shut the door behind them. Ash didn't need to barricade the door, its frame and construction was metal and it swings inward. He doesn't have to worry about the zombies breaking through. Ash sat Mark's and his backpack against the wall and pulled out the .22 ammo out, he sat them beside the backpacks before looking out towards the road.

Before him was a sea of Undead, packed shoulder to shoulder. The massive zombie hoard he and his friends dread was here, and they were taking their sweet time trying to get him.

Ash looked at his Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon gave him a nod. For once, Pikachu doesn't seem afraid. Before he was scared and constantly crying, now Pikachu had sucked it up and accepted the situation as it is. Though it was a bit late for that. Heck. It doesn't even matter anyway, "It's all or nothing, Pikachu." Ash told him.

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

All or nothing now.

**. . .**

Whoa, that was a lot of Undead down there, but Natas knew how to give them the slip. While they were distracted, Natas sneaked across the road and made it through some abandoned stores. Then got back on the perpendicular street. Ash and his Pikachu was right there, on the roof, alone. Natas couldn't believe his luck, they were alone. Not for long.

There was a blue recycling dumpster right next to the control building in the back, Natas quietly got on the lid and pulled out his double-barreled shotgun. He pulled out the shells Ash had given him and jammed them into the gun, then snapped the barrel back in place.

He then peered over the roof. Ash stood there, his back facing him. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder, in a very good spot . . .

**. . .**

"I never seen so many zombies." Ash gasped.

The horde below was hungry, very hungry. Their red eyes were pointing straight at him, arms stuck out of the sea of Undeath like the fur on a Meowth's back. They wailed banshee cries, roaring out ghastly mourns. Several zombies were scrambling through the broken barriers, pinning Ash and Pikachu in even further. There was no way out, Ash doubted he could hold them back. Even with Pikachu by his side, the odds were still against him.

Well, damn, he was hopping to give them the slip. Maybe that was still possible.

Ash held up the .22 rifle and emptied the clip into the crowd, each shot blew out the back of a zombie's skull. 5 shots. 5 kills. As he reloaded the rifle, Pikachu used Thunderbolt and caused an electric-chain shock. As all the zombies jerked in seizure-like spazms, Ash fired 5 more rounds, 5 more zombies drop. He reloaded again. Pikachu unleashed an electric attack. 5 shots. 5 headshots. Reload. Thunderbolt.

This went on for 20 minutes, the horde thinned a little. Ash noticed Pikachu's electric attacks were blowing the skull caps off of some zombies, red foam squirted out their noses, ears, eyes and mouth as they flop on the road. Burned zombie flesh and ozone drifted towards the sky with the smoke of the firestorm. Sweat trailed down Ash's neck, his clothes started feeling like a 2nd skin. As he took potshots at the zombies, he thought about his life before, where the world was a peaceful utopia. A world were he only had to worry about gym badges, caring for his Pokémon, helping others. He was still doing that, minus the badges. He had killed. His heart still felt sore from it all. It took Ash an entire night to feel justified about it. He did what he had to do, common sense was dead anyway.

His mother understood that, his Pikachu understood that. His friends . . . somewhat. His Pokémon, didn't seem to question him. Yes, they probably had their own thoughts.

But they couldn't _voice _them, can they?

Ash pulled the bolt back on the .22 rifle and sighed, "I think we're gonna need a new stra-"

_BOOM!_

The concussion blew across his shoulder, deafening his left ear. In slow motion, he saw his Pikachu get blasted off his shoulder and onto the floor. Blood and smoke splattered everywhere as the Mouse Pokémon collapsed. There was no scream, no yelp. Just a boom, then silence. Ash blinked before he realized Pikachu laid bleeding at his feet.

_No, no, no, no! _He thought as he dropped to his knees, "Pikachu!"

"Pika . . ." the Mouse Pokémon muttered.

The Mouse Pokémon coughed up a huge glob of blood, it poured out of his mouth and pooled around him. His belly had been blasted open, the wound was big enough for Ash to squeeze his fist through. Parts of Pikachu's intestines hang out of the bloody maw, threatening to spill out. Ash panicked, he shoved Pikachu's shredded intestines back in. Blood erupted out of the wound like a volcano. Ash felt his muscles lock up, his heart trying to cease it.

Hot tears trailed down Ash's cheeks as he struggled to put pressure on the bleeding, Pikachu's eyes fluttered as he struggled to maintain consciousness, "No, Pikachu," Ash sobbed, "Don't, please!"

"Pi . . . ka Pi" Pikachu wheezed.

He coughed up more blood, eventually half of his blood had already pooled all over the part of the roof and gotten all over Ash's pants and hands. The zombies continued to moan, giving a phantom atmosphere to a heartbreaking situation. Seeing he couldn't stop the bleeding, Ash cradled Pikachu in his arms and held him to his chest. The Mouse Pokémon breathing became shallow. Ash stroke Pikachu's ears and sobbed, "Pikachu."

"Pika Pi." Pikachu croaked.

Then Pikachu's eyes fluttered closed.

As if on cue, the zombies quieted down to faint whispers. Ash sat there for a long time, hugging his Pikachu. He cried to himself from the agonizing truth. Pikachu was dead. It wasn't quick enough for him, there was so much pain that Pikachu blacked out before he succumbed to the blood lost. His small body had already cooled to the temperature of a freezing icebox. Ash continued to stroke Pikachu's head, slightly rocking back and forth under the darkening sky.

_It's over._ Ash thought.

He had hoped Pikachu would survived, but he just had to come right back. Now he died, and people and Pokémon don't just die anymore. There was no telling how long it would take for him to turn. It took Iris's Emolga like. What, 30 minutes to an hour? It took 5 minutes for Psyduck to turn, Ash had an eerie feeling Pikachu would suffer the same fate.

In fact, Ash didn't had much time left himself. He felt his stomach knot, he sat down Pikachu and hunched over to the side to vomit. Black blood. Zombification was near.

He got up to his feet and drew his pistol, then cocked it. Ash stared at Pikachu's body. It looked like he was sleeping. He had to make sure he doesn't come back, so he won't become a Walker. He'd seen the zombified Pikachus. They were monsters, he didn't want his own to be a monster. Ash raised the gun and aimed at Pikachu's head, then pulled the hammer back. He held his breath, the gun shook in his hand. He struggled to steady his aim, then moved his finger to squeeze the trigger.

Ash exhaled and dropped the gun. No, he couldn't do it. He just couldn't shoot his best friend, just not happening. He looked at his own hands, saw how bloody they are. The blood had dried into a paste, the skin underneath was pale. He tried to flex his left hand. No feeling left. He clenched it to a fist and shot it down.

_I'm sorry, Pikachu_, Ash thought, _I loved you like a baby brother, I just hope you forgive me_.

Deep down, Ash could tell Pikachu already had.

"Oh, Ash."

The human voice made Ash jump, he spun around-

_BOOM!_

He felt his torso get peppered with shotgun pellets, felt them tore into his stomach and heart and tear them to rags. The world blacked out before Ash could hit the floor.

**. . .**

Ash's body dropped in a thud, the sound of the shotgun blast faded in the distance as Natas says, "Friendships don't last forever."

Natas popped open the barrel, ejecting the spent shells. The .16 gauge shells clattered on the floor in the puddle of blood, still steaming hot smoke from their deed. Natas lowered the double-barreled shotgun and shook his head. It was done, the Boss's task had been completed. Like Ash and his Pikachu, he felt finished himself. He had grown a distant attachment to Ash. Maybe he could had stepped in and play a father role, give him his unconditional support. But no, it wasn't meant to be. Luke was just doing his job, despite his deep resentment toward the idea.

_Raising a Tepig for the slaughter_. Natas thought as he stared at the bodies, he shook his head and sighed, _Well, let's see what he had on him_.

Natas searched Ash's pockets, he retrieved the Pokédex and the 9mm pistol. He then searched the backpacks and pulled out all the ammo he could find. Natas shoved it all into his backpack and jumped off the back of the building, he landed on the recycling dumpster before running for the bridge. The zombies weren't paying much attention, they had lost interest in Ash and Pikachu and were running off. It wasn't difficult for Natas to sneak back on the street and jog down the drawbridge without being seen. With the double-barreled shotgun clamped firmly in his hand, Natas ran off to a safe location where he could report back to his boss.

It wasn't long before the moon's shadow fell upon Faraday Island, and half of the Pokémon world.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	48. Ch 48: Assessment

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLVIII_

_Assessment_

Ash Ketchum's cooling corpse lay flat on its back, arms and legs spread out. His first Pokémon's body lay just a few centimeters near his head, curled in a fetal position. Their blood coated most of the roof. It had long since dried, turning from red, to brown, and finally black. For hours the bodies laid dormant, nearby zombies had sniffed out their remains and tried to claw their way up to the roof. They worked at it for an hour until they smelled the first signs of decomposition, the Undead lost interest and moved on. The drawbridge was soon deserted, both Living and Undead alike.

The fires had sizzled down after midnight. After running out of fuel to burn in Carson, the dying flames smouldered into smoke, leaving behind a town that looked like it had been bombed by a foreign air force. The fires managed to clear out the Undead trapped within the buildings and forest, but some come crawling out of the rubble. Their flesh charred black, their joint cartilages partly fused from the intense heat. Nonetheless, the burnt zombies resumed searching for food. Letting out mournful moans that filled the moonless night.

Most of the Pokémon Center survivors hadn't made it, many were either burned out by the inferno or overwhelmed with Undead. Wally, Tesla, and the Pokémon Center Pikachus managed to survive. The Pikachus managed to escape Carson by going against the wind, they managed to take shelter at an abandoned office building. They slept on the roof, each taking turns looking out for Undead. Wally and several remnants of Carson's police and firefighters managed to grab a hold of fire extinguishers and save the Carson Police Department from the inferno. The fire was so hot that the windows melted instead of shattering, though the sidings was badly burnt the building stood intact.

The Pokémon Center remained untouched, the fires somehow missed it completely while nearby buildings burned. Yet it remained abandoned, it was just a shell of its former self, surrounded by mounds of burnt dead. Some survivors came back to pick at the remains, others stayed for temporary housing. It was clear that it can no longer be used to set up a permanent safehouse, it had been abused long enough.

The forest that made up most of the island was reduced to hardened poles of lumber. Their bark and soil charred black by the firestorm. Small remains of wild Pokémon stuck out of the ashes here and there, just crusted bones that managed to withstand the burning. The Westinghouse farm remained intact, the grass and farmhouse simply covered with a fine layer of soot. It was all that was left of the once great Pokémon master that once called this place his childhood home.

The fire stopped short of Faraday City, held back by its fire department. Surprisingly there weren't any zombies for the police to deal with. Always when zombies were expected, none showed up. Yet when they weren't expected, a horde comes knocking at the door. Eventually the firefighters returned to their stations while the police resumed their patrols. Survival in Faraday City went on as usual through the rest of the night.

But everyone could sense something was up. The wind stopped blowing, then an eerie silence filled the vacuum. The Pokémon sensed it better than their human trainers, many of them got to the roofs of skyscrapers and looked up at the galactic plain. The beauty of the trillions of stars that shined down every night told them that the apocalypse would rear its head. They weren't sure how, but they figured it might happen in the morning.

Some humans decided to bring out their portable telescopes to get a better view of the stars, refracting and reflecting telescopes pointed their eyes towards known nebulas and the planets of the Solar System. According to scientists, a total solar eclipse would happen tomorrow, occurring sometime around noon. Recalling that the zombie outbreak occurred during a supermoon, many survivors were convinced that something big would indeed happen. They began to gather their weapons and upgrade their barricades. Engineers managed to scrounge up boards and scrap aluminum from derelict trailers, creating barriers that were 3x stronger than the plain ones. Instead of being nailed on, they were screwed into the frames of windows and doors. They predicted that zombies would have a hard time breaking them down, some survivors took wood glue and added it along with the screws to give better hold. Engineers theorized that the frame would give before the special boards, screws, and wood glue would. Now all the survivors had to worry if the pre-apocalyptic structures would hold till then.

**. . .**

Unfezant slept on the roof of the abandoned Pokémon Center, she huddled in a corner with her feathers fluffed up. She dreamed of how she met Ash, how he caught her, and how she evolved dramatically – and how she wound up here on the island. The world she knew was long gone, now just a fantasy dream. Somehow, deep within her heart, she felt free. Like liberated, or something. She could place a feather why. It felt like something broke inside her, and had yet to cause some damage.

Something had gone awry, she could feel it in her bones. When her eyes pried open, she could see the faint glow of the sun rising from the east. It was a red, greyish sunrise, clouded and corrupted by the devastating inferno that burned down most of Carson and parts of Faraday Island. She sat up and stretched her wings and legs. Time to fly.

The Proud Pokémon took to the skies in one great leap. Once she got to a comfortable cruising altitude, she glided across Carson to survey the damage. She could make out a great black scar covering most of the town, the abandoned buildings were reduced to smoldering skeletons of burnt wood and pipes. A few scattered puffs of fire were all that was left of the great inferno that cooked Carson like an oversized barbecue grill. She flew over to the edges of the forests, Unfezant could see a strange zigzag pattern on the grass. The fire had either baked it or coated it with soot, as it took up a dark gray appearance. The trees, looking more like gray oversized toothpicks, had no life left in them.

Unfezant shook her head. What a shame. That forest didn't deserved to burn, all those Pokémon who once lived there already had problems thriving on Faraday Island, where locally grown food was a luxury. Those Pokémon depended on the human's garbage to keep them going. Sure, they can find some natural fruits and vegetables to eat, but chances are someone already got to it. Reward them with nothing. So for daily survival, the humans were generous enough to give out their food scraps to them. She had seen it before in her last visit to Faraday Island, saw wild Pokémon going hungry when the food supply was cut cause of Tesla's debacle with the local law. That was pure chaos back then, Unfezant shuttered every time she thought back to it.

The river came up ahead, Unfezant's eyes and nostrils stung from the smoke and pollution coming off of it. She coughed and steered away, her sight cleared up just enough to get a good look at the river. Her eyes bulged. Whoa, the river looked like it was flowing _lava _rather than water. It bubbled out the noxious gasses while spitting geysers of fire into the air. It glowed warm radiant heat, like the florescent lighting in those chem sticks but with added texture. The red-orange lava flowed naturally towards the sea, Unfezant could see huge plumes of white smoke rising down the river. It must be steam from the heat of the lava, what a sight.

As she glided down the river, Unfezant watched a drawbridge loomed below. Odd, both halves were down. She recalled that those drawbridges should be up during an emergency, Unfezant could see smashed cars lying around its edges. No way those cars smashed into each other, they must had been on the bridge when it was being raised. But now the bridge was down, someone must had lowered it. But who?

She spotted some yellow fuss on the roof of a building at the foot of the bridge. At first, she was curious. Unfezant peered more closely, it looked like a Pikachu . . .

Wait a minute.

Unfezant dive bombed towards the building, then flapped her wings to slow her descent. She landed on the small stairwell hut of the building, Unfezant gasped from what she saw.

_Ash_, The Proud Pokémon thought to herself, _Pikachu?_

Her trainer's face was unmistakable, no doubt the Pikachu huddled near him was her friend. Both bodies were covered in each other's blood, long since dried. She could smell decay coming off their bodies, they had been dead for a while now. Unfezant felt a tear trail down her cheek, that explained the broken feeling she felt last night. Ash was dead, and so was Pikachu. It looked like they had died together at roughly the same time. She saw a bloody bandage on Ash's arm and discoloration around it. He must had been bit, was that it?

Unfezant noticed where the blood came from, bloody holes peppered Ash's chest and abdomen while one big hole had blown out of Pikachu's belly. Was it suicide? No, she couldn't see any head trauma. Unfezant realized the agonizing truth.

_They were murdered, somebody shot them_.

Without warning, Ash's hand twitched. Unfezant jumped. No, she doesn't wanna watch him and Pikachu turn. No way, she was outta there.

The Proud Pokémon quickly took back to the skies and flew across the river, trying her best not to squawk in the early morning.

**. . .**

Oshawott awoke with a rumble in his tummy, he sat up, still distraught from how his world turned upside down. He rubbed his belly and whined to himself. He wished he had food, good food and water. But there weren't any. Well, not any that was obvious. Maybe there was food tucked away somewhere, and fresh water. This was what Tesla probably felt when the Faraday City government cut off his food supply from that 20 year fiasco. But this was different. Nobody was producing the food and purifying the water, and won't be for a very long time. Maybe never again . . .

_Oh that's a bad thought_,Oshawott thought as he looked up at the sky, _Sun's almost up, better get outta here_.

The Sea Otter Pokémon got down from his little hideaway and wondered downstairs. He listened for any Undead noises. Nothing. Oshawott shook his head. No, that was what the Undead want him to think. They won't get the jump on him, no way another slimy thing from the sewers would try to eat him. Then again, they must be as hungry as he was. Oshawott hadn't had any food in 24 hours.

He stepped out into the street and smelled the air. Sulfur and soot filled his nose, talk about fresh air in the morning.

Glass crashed nearby, Oshawott jumped. He wasn't as scared as he was paranoid. He climbed up on an abandoned car and faced the source of the noise. There was a glass store window that was falling apart, it looked like someone busted through it weeks ago. A large fragment dislodged from the frame and shattered to a thousand pieces on the sidewalk, recreating that crashing sound. Oshawott exhaled. Welcome to Carson, the world's fastest growing pile of junk.

He walked down the street, navigating his way around wrecked cars and dead bodies. The sky was turning red again as the sun peaked over the horizon. Oshawott felt its eerie gloom. It wasn't warming, it was _haunting_. The benevolent sun simply ignored him, as it always did. How come the Sea Otter Pokémon didn't realize this before? Maybe time had stopped for society, yet real time kept on going . . . to come to think of it, Ash and his friends stopped keeping track of time a long time ago. They were relying on the sun for the most part. It was over for society, yet the world just kept right on spinning, and the moon with it. Revolving around its parent star as it always had since its birth, a long, long time ago.

And all the while, it all ignored life in the world. Ignored the humans, the Pokémon, and the utopia created by humanity. The political and dramatic change to a dystopia went unnoticed to the universe, like it never even happened. The wars and abuse from ancient times would be coming back, with a modern twist.

In other words, Oshawott felt screwed. Pokémon battling, gone. Plentiful food, gone. Friends, gone. His life seemed meaningless. All those successes from before was now irrelevant, and will _stay _irrelevant if the zombies disappeared.

Oshawott stopped, something went off in his head. It wasn't the zombies who dismantled society. Sure they took over the world, but they couldn't do it on their own. If that were the case, there would be zombies overwhelming Faraday City and the Pokémon Center around day two or three. It was the people who built it up who destroyed society, the Undead made them do it. They made them do it from fear and panic and chaos. If everyone were to pull together, the Undead would be kept under control and nobody would loose everything.

Realizing society could had survived, Oshawott broke down. He dropped to his knees and cried, and he cried loud, so loud that half of Carson could hear it. Bandits were everywhere, zombies were everywhere. Everyone and everything hiding out of sight and being a creepy crawlie, waiting to get a hold of worm food. It doesn't matter, it never had. Like everyone else, Oshawott was marked for Undeath in the end.

What a way to die and reborn, no one would rest in peace ever again.

A gust of air kicked up and knocked Oshawott off of his feet. He looked over his shoulder and saw Unfezant landing, "Oshawott!" he cried as he got back to his feet. _Unfezant!_

"Un Unfezant, Unf." the Proud Pokémon spoke, _Got bad news for you, Osha._

"Osha?" he asked, _What?_

Unfezant lowered her head and said sorrowfully, "Unfezant." _Ash is dead._

Somehow Oshawott wasn't surprised, yet it still stung his heart. He let out a mournful cry and hugged Unfezant, she wrapped a wing around him to give him a hug. Oshawott then explained how he got separated by the others and how he spent the night on the roof of a store. Unfezant nodded, indicating she understood him, "Un Unfezant, Un Un Unfez." she said. _I'll go find the others, stay here till I get back_.

Oshawott nodded, "Osha." _Okay._

Unfezant flapped her wings and took off, Oshawott watched as she glided out of sight within seconds. He shook his head and sobbed, Oshawott wiped away some tears as he head up to the roof of a store. Great, just what he needed. Ash was dead, and he wasn't there to see it. Maybe he didn't want to. Oshawott put his _life _and _faith _in Ash. Now that he was gone, the Sea Otter Pokémon was truly lost. He didn't know what to do, nor figure out where to go. The forest was all burnt out, probably most of the wild Pokémon were purged. But he couldn't make the trip himself, not alone. Oshawott sighed, might as well wait for Unfezant to come back, if she would ever come back.

When he got back on the rooftops, Oshawott's belly growled again. He rubbed it as he sat down and began thinking of food, _I wish I have an apple_. He thought as he flop on his back and stared up at the sky.

**. . .**

"Something's not right," Tesla thought out loud, "I can feel it."

The Mouse Pokémon sat on the roof and stared out at the horizon, the sun was started to rise, yet Carson remained dead. The fire had burned out a good part of it, luckily Tesla got the other Pikachus out just in time. Now he had a new problem, these Pikachus don't function well when hungry. Last night one of the Pikachus woke him up, complaining his belly was all grumbly and asked for food. Tesla personally had no sympathies for his own kind to be hungry, he felt a sh*t load of rage when they started complaining to him about it. No doubt they could sense it, he could see it in their eyes. No matter, Tesla kindly told the Pikachu there weren't any food and gave him a hug. The Pikachu cried on his shoulder for 5 minutes and went back to sleep.

This little shack they took shelter looked like some sort of clubhouse. It was only one story, it had a bar and a kitchen in the back. Several tables and chairs were set up, waiting for a public gathering that would never come. Several barriers were nailed over the windows, both inside and out. Whoever tried to took shelter here probably planned this building to be a temporary outpost. Tesla couldn't find any food and water when he and his group first arrived, perhaps somebody cleaned out the place and ran for the hills, or there weren't any food and water at all. What was in plentiful supply were several sleeping bags and cots for the Pikachus to sleep on. Many of them huddled together to keep warm, as the place was quite chilly. There was a brick fireplace that they could use, but it was in the wrong room. No matter, Tesla didn't plan to leave any evidence they were here anyway, just in case the previous survivors were to come back.

So far the night went by without any problems. No zombies came wondering by and the firestorm kept its distance. Tesla saw the fire had burnt out his forest, he hoped that the fires didn't reach his trainer's farm. It was built with forest fires in mind, but there was no way to tell if it could survive against one. The old Pikachu readjusted his eyegoggles and sighed, he felt tired as his old age started hitting home. He felt he should had died a long time ago, biologically he should. Pikachus don't even live this long to begin with. Tesla waved a hand over the stump of what remained of his tail. Part of him felt scared that he could still feel it, like it was still there. Well, at least it was gone. He couldn't recall how many times people grabbed him by the tail, stepped on it, caught in a doorway, etc. etc.

Right now his tail was the least of his concerns.

Something happened, and something big. He had been feeling it since noon yesterday, whatever it was contributed to the fire that sprouted up at the nearby river. It was in the direction towards the Westinghouse farm. Whatever it was, the farm would have to wait. His instincts was telling him Ash's group was in disarray, he had seen Unfezant flying around. She looked paranoid and scared, a bit sad. Tesla recalled the first time he saw her up in the sky. He grinned. Those days were intense, it was the last time he had areal warfare.

_Something's got that bird spooked_, Tesla thought, _I wonder what it was_.

Tesla had a feeling he might soon find out. Whatever it was, it can wait. He was tired and he needed to rest, Tesla went back downstairs and let another Pikachu take shift. He climbed on a caught and fell asleep, his dreams took hold moments later.

**. . .**

Snivy covered her ears, Pignite's snoring was driving her nuts. Scraggy just sat there up against the concrete rail of the roof, dozing out to space as he struggled to keep his heavy skull up. The Grass Snake Pokémon paced back and forth – quite unusual behavior for one to do – as she struggled to think. Oshawott and Pikachu were missing, Ash was probably dead, everybody else could be either. Snivy shook her head and let out a groan, the top of her head was itchy with anxiety and regret.

After separating from the main group, the three Pokémon took shelter on the roof of a small electronics store. The place was stripped to the bone for loot, the empty shelves help make a suitable barricade over the big windows but that won't hold a horde, let alone one zombie. Nevertheless, the zombies rolled their red eyes over this place showing no interest. Even the Flamers avoided it, Snivy felt her heart race every time she smell a Flamer in the distance. Without Oshawott to provide a type-advantage, the mutated fire-types posed a threat. Snivy could use Bullet Seed, but her move wasn't strong enough to penetrate a skull of a walking corpse.

The Grass Snake Pokémon finally sat down and sighed. Where could the others be? Oshawott, that _stupid _wotter, must be zombie food right now. Those chubby water-types might make a good meal for the Undead. Snivy grinned, he might amuse the others with his exaggerated thinking but he served no other use. Well, he was gone, would he turn up or not at all, Snivy didn't care. Ash was gone, which means she no longer was owned by anybody. Like Tesla, she had been freed. A part of her wanted to rid herself from Ash's remaining Pokémon, _No_, she told herself, _I'm not leaving my friends_.

Basically she wouldn't survive on her own, not very long. Being a lone Pokémon like Tesla again was suicide in this new world. She and the others don't have a human weapon, all they had were their Pokémon training, somewhat useless against the Undead. Snivy thought back at all the battles and conflicts they went through with Ash, figuring out anything similar between them and the apocalypse. There had to be something, _anything _for her and her friends could use. But no, she couldn't come up anything that could be similar to this. Snivy sighed, with no example to follow her best bet would be to find the others and rejoin them. Maybe she could reclaim her independence once the apocalypse, if at all, blows over.

_Maybe I could track down Tesla_, Snivy thought, _he's pretty much built for this world and he ain't an idiot_.

A shadow drift over her. Snivy looked up at the sky and saw Unfezant, gliding overhead in one big swoop. Snivy thought of signaling to catch her attention. But no. That would attract the Undead as well as Unfezant. Scraggy and Pignite didn't noticed, they were too busy tending to their thoughts. Snivy simply let Unfezant passed overhead undisturbed, the Proud Pokémon was out of sight within a minute.

Something deep down in Snivy's heart told her she might not ever see Unfezant again. It must be her Pokémon instincts, they were usually right most of the time. Unfezant was responsible for being bonded with Ash in the first place. In Unova, Ash chased her while dishing out Oshawott, Tepig – actually Pignite in his pre-evolution, and Pikachu. She managed to defeat them using Attract, but Tranquil – Unfezant's pre-evolution, defeated her because she was herself _female_. She sealed the deal for her inevitable fate. A small part of Snivy hated her for that, but she couldn't hate her completely. That was just not possible. Unfezant proved to be quite a true friend, it was sad for how things turned out now.

_Goodbye Unfezant_, Snivy thought, _I'll miss you, you fluffy bird-brain_.

**. . .**

"So you get it done?" the Boss asked Luke on his communicator.

Natas didn't respond right away, "It is done, Boss. Ash Ketchum is dead, and so is his Pikachu."

"Most importantly, how were their last moments? Did you kill Pikachu first like I told you?"

"By luck, yes," said Natas, "Ash reacted just how you predicted."

"And you knocked him on his ass with your .16 gauge?"

"Yes, sir."

The Boss took a moment and processed the information, "Your objective is complete, that I believe was the most important part of the plan. Your next task should be more challenging."

"What do I need to do?" Natas asked.

"Capture the rest of Ash's Pokémon and bring them to the facility, then lock them up in a cell in the basement. Don't worry about his Unfezant, that bird Pokémon is an exception."

"How am I going to capture the others?"

"There's a nearby house in a nearby suburb, numbered 4823. Go inside and find a cache of flashbang grenades and a Kevlar sack. Use the nine bangers to stun his Pokémon, then bag them. I don't care if you have to break their limbs to get them under control, we need them alive for this."

_This doesn't make any sense_. Natas thought. He know he shouldn't question his Boss's judgment, but personally he couldn't make any sense of this. Capture Ash's Pokémon and stow it away in a cell in the facility? He wanted to ask why, but he didn't need to know yet. Natas sighed as he pressed the talk button, "I'll go get the goods and go hunting for them, I don't think they gotten that far."

"If those Pokémon are still with Ash's friends, then that would be a bigger challenge. His friends must not be harmed, nor should they be aware of our plans till the last minute."

"What if they are all dead, sir?" Natas asked.

"Good question. If his Pokémon are already dead, chances are they're Undead. So if they're Undead, you must still capture them and bring them to the facility. Don't worry, you can tell they're Ash's Pokémon by looking at their eyes. The glow of their eyes are a giveaway."

_What makes you think they have a different eye glow if they're zombies? _Natas thought, but didn't say.

"Okay, Boss," he simply say, "I'm off."

"Report to me when you're done, over and out."

Natas pocketed the communicator and grumbled to himself, "The things I do for Team Rocket."

Finding the suburb wasn't that hard, he was appalled by its state. Trash littered the lawns and street, car windows smashed in and cleaned out for loot. Several doors were kicked in, some barely hanging off their hinges. What was even more horrifying was bodies, both human and Pokémon lay everywhere. All of them were partially eaten at some point, huge chunks of flesh were ripped off to expose internal organs. Some bodies were burned till they were charred skeletons. Natas approach the corpse of a small Pokémon, it gave off a foul odor of decay. He pinched his nose and got close enough where he could get a good look at it.

The body looked like it was a Plusle, one of those Cheering Pokémon duo. If it had a Minun partner, it was nowhere to be found. The Plusle looked like it had died recently, its body had no bites. Yet its belly was horribly bloated with carbon dioxide and methane gas as bacteria eats it apart. Its facial expression showed grief, distraught. Dried tear trails were clearly marked on its sunken cheeks. Natas shook his head, the poor thing not only starved to death, it had spent its remaining moments crying.

Suddenly its eyes opened, bulging bright red.

Natas didn't hesitate, he lifted up a heavy boot and called it down on the Plusle's head, its skull explode with black brain matter and blood. The body gurgled as the built up gas escapes, giving off a sickening bubbly hiss. Natas rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and moved on, he didn't wanna see anymore of the body as he had to.

"4823," Natas told himself in a whisper, "That ain't far now."

He approached the house in question. It was a 1st story home with yellow sidings. Like the other houses, the lawn was overgrown and the front door was kicked in. Strangely there wasn't any trash in the tall grass, whoever lived here didn't stick around during the early days of the outbreak. Natas drew his suppressed .22 Ruger and cautiously stepped through the front door.

"Hello," he called out, "Anybody home?"

Silence answered him.

Natas shrugged, "Guess not."

Luke closed the front door and locked it, then did a security sweep. He checked every room, the attic, and the basement, all in the while making a lot of noise to attract the Undead out of hiding. The house was trashed from looting, any tangibles such as jewelry and clothing were gone. The closets and dressers were completely empty. The refrigerator was cleaned out, all that was left was a liter of spoiled milk. Ugh, Natas shut the fridge door when the smell of spoilage hit him.

So far no blood, guess nobody died here or got bit. He walked into the garage and checked it. A small Hydrogen/ Electric hybrid car sat parked in the garage, left untouched since day one. There were also a couple of bicycles leaning against the wall, a pair of helmets sat on the floor by the wheels. All that was here were usual tools, man tools for projects. Looters didn't even grab them, how amazing. Too bad Natas had no use for them right now, he could use that wrench and screwdriver to take something apart.

When he walked into the master bedroom, he noticed the wall closet door was torn out of its frame. Natas bent over and pulled the frame aside, "Bingo." he said out loud.

A small box of flashbang grenades and a large Kevlar bag sat on the floor, Natas crouched and pulled a flashbang out of the box. He examined it, a common M84 stun grenade. Natas remembered being issued these flashbangs when he was in the army, he had seen and felt their effects, they would knock an Onix on its ass – if it has one.

Natas felt the Kevlar bag, it was thick, maybe bullet-resistant. Strong enough to hold an agitated Pokémon, yet flexible enough to tie up. This might just work.

Luke stuffed the flashbangs into his backpack and hoist the bag on his back, "Now where are those Pokémon?" he asked himself.

They probably hadn't gotten that far, not on food actually. Maybe they were somewhere near the drawbridge, on the north side of the river. Natas wondered how he was going to capture the Pokémon if Ash's friends were guarding them. Maybe there was a way to do it, a simple trick to avoid being discovered and shot. Natas shook his head, he would worry about that once he get to it. Right now, he had got to find them somewhere in the town before the Undead hordes mobilize again.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	49. Ch 49: Afterlife

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter XLIX_

_Afterlife_

Ash couldn't tell if he was spinning around in a dark cloud of a silent thunderstorm, or he was drifting through a fourth dimensions. It didn't really matter, his mind was blank, stuck between reality and his dreams. He felt stiff, exhausted, he tried calling out but he got no response. Oddly enough, he couldn't hear his own voice. Deaf, blind, maybe mute, there was no world in existence. It just wasn't there, but he felt he was somewhere. In his own mind perhaps? Well, that made more sense than drifting through space.

His last moments were with Pikachu, his best friend. The lemon-furred Mouse Pokémon had died in his arms in terrible pain. Ash felt his best friend's ordeal wasn't over, he was going to shoot him to put an end to it . . . but he was interrupted by someone, something.

_"Oh, Ash?"_ said the voice.

_BOOM!_

That was all he heard, a boom: the blast of a shotgun, the same shotgun that killed Pikachu. It knocked Ash back, he didn't fell hot lead strike him, he just heard it. It happened so fast that he only got a millisecond of a glimpse of his killer's face.

One millisecond was all he needed.

_Luke Natas_. Ash remembered.

His mind cleared, and the world opened up.

Ash pried his eyes open. The rising sun shined down on him from the orange apocalyptic sky. The first thing that struck Ash was the edges of his vision. A green puffy tint border-lined his sight. The next thing he realized he wasn't feeling anything. No pain, no happiness, nothing. His heart bore no emotion. He tried moving his fingers, he sensed nothing. Ash lifted his hand up to view.

He noticed his skin was greenish-gray, covered in blood. His blood, Pikachu's blood . . .

He sat up, Ash heard his back and shoulders cracked and pop. He looked at his hands again. They looked dead. He flexed his fingers a bit, his dexterity seemed fine. He could move them effortlessly. The weird thing about them was they lack feeling. He touched the fabric of his bloody camouflaged pants.

Nothing.

_What's going on here? _Ash asked himself.

The pool of blood had long since dried. Ash touched it. It had stained deep into the concrete roof before turning black, _Whoa, how long had I been out?_

It looked like overnight, any longer and he would be zombie chow. Ash got up to his feet, his joints felt rusty as he struggled to stand up. The world wobbled, Ash fell back down, _Gotta get up, gotta get up!_

Ash crawled over to the edge of the building and pulled himself up on the concrete safety rail, he put all his weight on one foot before getting back to his feet. He wobbled again, Ash steadied himself and reclaimed his balance. He took a moment and gaze out over the road. All the zombies were gone, nothing but dead bodies and burned out ruins. Gosh, last night was awful. First Mark went down, then Pikachu, then himself. Looks like the Undead had cleared out, time to think of priorities.

_Pikachu_.

He tried to say the Mouse Pokémon's name, but all that came out was a distorted moan. Ash placed a hand on his lips, flabbergasted. He tried to speak simple words, say his name. All that came out was a mutated alien version of his own voice, seemingly moaning.

_I can't speak_, Ash calmly thought, _I can't talk._

Odd, Ash just shrugged it off. Why did he feel this way? He didn't feel human, alive, what was up? Just as Ash tried to walk, his ankles buckled. He staggered on his feet for a few meters, then stopped. He rest the palm of his hands on his knees and shook his head, _Stiff as a brick_.

Ash looked back at the blood puddle. Oh, Pikachu. His best friend's body still laid where he left him. The Mouse Pokémon was a mess, blood and muck covered his fur. Part of his intestines hang out of his belly, dripping feces. The pain Ash felt when his first Pokémon died in his arms was long gone, but not just that. He felt no love, nor the friendship the two had with each other. Only one thing remained, the bond. Ash felt the urge to keep near him rise up, not in his chest or belly but in his mind. The feeling hovered over him like a dark cloud, telling him to not stray too far from Pikachu. But Pikachu was dead, simply gone.

To come to think of it, it doesn't hurt to take care of him. Though Ash had lost his emotions, he had not lost his respect. This Pikachu deserved a better resting place, Ash thought about the Pokémon graveyard at the Westinghouse farm. Why not bury him there with Misty's Psyduck?

Ash approached his buddy and bent over, his back popped as he reached down and picked up the lifeless corpse. It didn't feel soft nor hard, Ash could barely tell it was even there. He looked down at Pikachu's face. The eyes were sunken in, probably dehydration or something. Ash head over to the door, limping awkwardly with every step. He opened it and started down the steps. It was hard, his reflexes on his feet were slower than normal. When he got halfway down the steps, he tripped. Ash shot a hand on the rail, his shoulder cracked as he caught himself. Pikachu's body almost slipped out of his grip, Ash kept him snugged in his arm as he held on the bar. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He didn't feel any pressure lift, no change in tension. Ash held it for a minute, then made it down the rest of the stairs without a problem.

He turned to where he left Mark. His body was gone, including his crossbow. The front door was open a jar, the doorknob smeared with blood. Ash wondered if the Undead had taken Mark's body away, or he had got back up and walked out. Wherever Mark went, he was long gone. Ash didn't expect him to show up anytime soon. He was a good friend, probably a best friend since he showed the most loyalty. Well, maybe some day he would bump into his Walker form. But it wouldn't be him, would it?

Just as Ash approach the front door, he heard a soft growl echoing from his arms. He looked down . . . and Pikachu's eyes met his.

He stopped and stared at his friend, not shocked but stunned. His eyes, they were bright florescent green instead of the usual red. Pikachu moaned as he stirred his arms, the hole in his stomach slurped and bubbled sticky noises as he breathes. It didn't hurt him, Pikachu couldn't feel it. Ash held up a finger and pressed down on the wound, the Mouse Pokémon simply shrugged it off. Ash saw the soul of his best friend deep in its rotting husk. He realized the truth, Pikachu had turned. But he was still here, his mind still intact, yet stripped of emotion like his trainer's own . . .

But why?

. . . That was something to think about.

_You had turned_, Ash thought, still staring into Pikachu's eyes, _just what I feared_.

Pikachu showed a weak smile, Ash knew he didn't mean it. His buddy had no feelings, just like him. All he had was common sense, just like _him_. Like old times, Pikachu climbed up on Ash's shoulder and perched himself in the usual spot, making awful growling noises. Ash lowered his arms and reached for his holster. Oh, he couldn't feel it, he had to look _down _at it. Not that it mattered, his holster was gone anyway.

The AR-15 was still on the workbench, just where he left it. But it was useless without ammo. Ash head back upstairs and checked the backpacks, empty. Mark's 9mm was gone, along with its ammo. The .22 rifle was still there, loaded with 5 shots. Pretty much all the .22 ammo he had left. Ash holstered it over his shoulder and checked his pockets. It was difficult finding anything in them, since he lost feeling in his hands. He had to guess grab. His Pokédex's were gone, though he had some .12 gauge shells still tucked away in his vest pouches. Something shiny caught his eye, Ash pulled it out. It was Mark's .357 magnum, the Goliath gun glistened in the sun's rays. He opened up its cylinder. Yup, still loaded. Ash clipped it back and shoved the behemoth gun into his holster, then made sure it was secured properly.

_Nothing left for me here_. Ash thought.

Just as Ash turned back towards the roof door, he noticed the spent shell casings in the puddle of his own blood. He picked them both up and checked its markings, .16 gauge, more proof that it was Natas.

Hang on, these weren't just Natas's spent casings . . . Oh, now he remembered. These were the shells he gave to him a week ago!

Before Ash knew it, he resurrected a powerful universal emotion. One that was mostly used in disputes and conflicts, which would serve him as fuel to exact revenge. Anger. Ash let out a zombie growl and through the cases into the street below. Pikachu let out a zombie Mouse Pokémon growl of his own, identical to the Undead Pikachus that tried to eat him days ago. He too felt anger, maybe it was contagious. The spent shotgun shells were enough to tell Ash what he was, Undead. A zombie, but not just any shambling corpse. He was a reverent, a special type of Undead who only rise with their soul _only _for vengeance.

In other words, Ash knew what he had to do. He must hunt down Luke Natas, beat information out of him, and kill him. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Society was dead, half his friends were dead, and he was dead himself. But still walking, and _breathing_.

The sudden rage cooled as quickly as it came, sending Ash back to his calm state. Pikachu also quieted down at roughly the same time. Ash noticed and wondered if both his and Pikachu's _lives_ were linked. Probably.

Ash grabbed his backpack and put it back on, then head back downstairs. He saw his crowbar lying on the floor by one of the barriers, covered with dry blood. Ash couldn't remember if he had dropped it there, was it on the table? No matter, it was still a good tool, that was what counts. Ash picked it up and looked it over, then snugged it between him and his backpack. Ash swung the door open and stepped out into the street, then looked up at the sky. The orange atmosphere seemingly brightened. He took a deep breath and exhaled, and caught some familiar smells. His friends, his Pokémon, and Natas. They were scattered as far as he could tell. Natas's scent was the strongest, and it pointed him across the drawbridge.

_Wherever he's going_, Ash thought, _he might come after my friends_.

The thought didn't spur anything, but the protective habit was still there. Wherever Natas was going, he and his friends would be at the end of the line. Well, there was going to be explaining to do. He wondered how his friends and Pokémon would react. They might shoot him, why wouldn't they? If he showed what was left of his humanity, such as holding the gun, that might be enough to convince them he still had his mind. Though it would do nothing to prevent his mom to burst into tears.

As far as he could see it, his fate would be a return to death. Is that what happens to reverents once they accomplish that crucial goal? Maybe, maybe not. There was no way to tell for sure, he would have to kill him and find out for himself.

_Well_, Ash thought, _it's all or nothing_.

Dying smoke drifted up towards the clouds from the river of fire as Ash crossed the drawbridge. It used to smell like manure and gasoline, now he didn't notice it. Only Natas's scent trail filled his nostrils with every breath, everything else didn't register. He heard something cracked, like a ripping shatter of fracturing rock. Ash drew the revolver, kept its barrel pointed towards the sky as he reached the other side of the river.

_CRASH!_

The street webbed cracks under Ash's feet as a gust of air blew him forward, he jogged big strides over a few meters, then spun around on his heels. Thick dust and fire engulfed the drawbridge, blooming outward in one great push. Soot and black dust blew past Ash and Pikachu, if there were any heat they didn't feel it. As the dust cloud dissipates, it revealed destruction. The drawbridge had crumbled, both halves had sunken partially into the river as the lava of glowing sludge swarmed it. The drawbridge sank into the river by its own weight, they dropped a full meter before they touched the bottom. Several cars hanged off the edges, dangling from what seemed to be a 50 meter drop. One car, a navy blue sedan, buckled and fell in. Ash watched it somersaulted on its back and landed into the lava, unleashing a blooming flower of fire with a horrifying hiss.

The ethanol tank exploded a second later, shooting a stream of flame like an enraged Charizard. The underbelly of the car soon blossomed a carpet of fire before sinking into the lava. The tires could no longer take the heat and exploded, sending out the car's final death cry in huge globs of orange neon bubbles.

It was all over in half a minute.

_If I was on it a few seconds later, me and Pikachu would be barbecue._ Ash thought as he stared at where the car had been.

Pikachu growled in false amusement, he too realized how close he and Ash was to being liquified in the river of fire. So much for a 2nd death.

When Ash turned around, several zombies broke through some boarded windows and climbed out. Their red eyes glowed hungrily as they held up clawed hands. They glanced at Ash and Pikachu, then stopped. Ash waited. The zombies seemed to be looking him over, trying to figure out if he was either friend or prey. _Maybe a little both_. Ash thought.

The zombies slowly turned their heads away and moved on, snarling mindless thoughts.

_They think we're one of them_, Ash thought, _this makes my goal easier_.

Ash approached one of the zombies, the Walker wore the fragmented remains of a mail person's uniform. Its hat was long gone, exposing a bald head. Its fluffy white beard was caked with black blood, barely concealing its mouth. The zombie wondered past Ash and Pikachu, ignoring them. Ash lifted the .357's barrel and nudged the zombie in the arm, it gave off a near-muted grunt before shrugging it off. Just as the zombie turned its back towards him, Ash aimed and fired a slug into its neck.

The bullet boomed into its skull and exploded out its face in a cocktail of black sprinkles. As the gun fired, its heavy recoil kicked back with a heavy thud. Ash had a death grip on its handle, and so it remained in place rather than fling back and hit him on the noggin. Some shreds of rotten meat shot back at Ash and Pikachu, mixing with the dried crud on their decaying bodies. The zombie tripped and fell flat on the street, oozing blood out of what was left of its skull.

Nearby, the zombies witness Ash's act. Their jaws dropped and moaned as their arms swung towards him. Some started jogging, flailing arms while wailing angry screams.

Ash didn't want to waste the rest of his bullets on the few zombies, so he holstered the gun and drew his crowbar. In a chain sequence, he sunk the claw into the first zombie's head. Dislodged it. Smashed the chisel end into the eye of a 2nd zombie. Freed it, which smashed the blunt curb of the claw into the 3rd's zombie's jaw, snapping its neck. Ash then gripped both end of the crowbar, spun around, and called it down on the top of the 4th zombies head. Like a ninja with mad skills, Ash slaughtered the small herd of zombies as they tried to lay a bloody hand on him. In no time, Ash watched the final zombie fall after removing the crowbar's claw out of its face.

_How did I do all that? _Ash thought.

Ash turned towards his Pikachu, the Undead Mouse Pokémon was barely hanging on his shoulder, trying to avoid getting flung off from Ash's rapid movements. Pikachu simply climbed back up and looked back at his trainer with glowing green eyes.

_Gotta be careful_, Ash thought, _I don't wanna knock Pikachu off and step on him by mistake_.

A large part of Pikachus intestines hanged out from the hole, sagging out like hanging sausage links. Pikachu didn't seem to notice, he couldn't feel it anymore. Ash simply holstered his crowbar, grabbed the intestines, and shoved it back into Pikachus' belly. The Mouse Pokémon looked down in curiosity, upon seeing the hole he placed a hand over it and turn his attention to Ash. The duo stared at each other with emotionless expressions, then shrugged.

_Gotta find something to keep your guts where it belongs_, Ash thought, wishing he could speak those words to his best friend.

Ash took a whiff of air and picked up Natas's scent again. It trailed across the road that lined up with the river. He started down the road immediately, not wanting to waste any time. There was no telling how much of a head start Natas got down this road, his friend's lives may be in danger, his Pokémon's . . .

An abandoned drugstore loomed ahead, the windows were busted out and the inside was dark. Hm, maybe Ash could find something to patch up Pikachu's belly. The entrance doors were hollow, nothing but metal frames. Ash stepped through the doors, the glass shards made crunching sounds as they bore his weight.

Then the world lit up.

_Woah_, Ash thought, _this is _so _cool_.

The darkness was pushed back by a green tint of light, slowly but surely, the inside of the store became bright as day. Ash looked around for the source. The only light source was the sunlight coming through the broken windows, but there wasn't enough of them to light up the whole store.

_Night-vision_, Ash thought, _I have night-vision, sweet!_

He felt some emotions coming back, positive ones. Satisfaction was a powerful one, it glowed like his newly discovered night-vision. But it didn't last, it faded after a few seconds. Well, at least he had a moment to feel human again.

Ash stepped over the destroyed shelves and debris as he made his way to the back, where the prescription area was. He kicked down the door and walked in. Ash checked the shelves and under the counter. The whole place was cleaned out, no medication, no herbs, or anything. The looters had picked this place to to the bone. As Ash walked out, he noticed something underneath a pile of broken shelving. He bent over and pulled them aside. It was a first aid kit, it was a bit dinged up from abuse but it was in good condition.

He picked up the first aid kit and walked over to the counter. Ash plucked Pikachu off his shoulder and laid him on his back, Pikachu's bright green eyes watched Ash open up the first aid kit and got to work. The Undead Pokémon trainer pulled out a couple of gauze pads and medical tape. Ash checked the exit wound, Pikachu's intestines slurped around in a slimy mucus. He could see tiny bubbles coming out. Thankfully Ash couldn't smell it, then again he himself might smell no different.

_He's rotting_, Ash thought, _my buddy is breaking down_.

Pikachu had died just a few minutes before him, had his buddy gained back his emotions he would've been terrified. But no, the Undead Mouse Pokémon just laid there with a calm expression, staring up at the ceiling.

Ash pulled the wrapper off the gauze pad and pressed it on the exit wound, then taped it down. He kept putting on tape until he was satisfied that Pikachu's intestines won't rupture out again. Ash flipped him over and checked the entry wound on his back. The wound was smaller and more clean, Ash couldn't see his buddy's kidneys sticking out, so he doesn't need as much tape this time. Ash unwrapped another gauze pad and pressed it on, then secured it with tape.

_There_, Ash thought, _done_.

As Ash puts the first aid kit back together, Pikachu sat up. He glanced at the patch on his belly, then looked up. It was expressionless, but Ash knew he was thankful. He stuffed the first aid kit into his backpack, then Pikachu got back to his shoulder. Time to move on.

Just as Ash was about to leave, Pikachu started growling. It was a low audible growl, it sounded like a warning. Ash perked his ears, and heard a soft muted rhythm of footsteps coming from outside. This was no zombie, the rhythm's too regular.

_Survivor. _Ash realized.

When Ash crouched down, Pikachu stopped growling and went silent. Ash drew his .357 and stepped out of the prescription room, he took cover around some standing shelves and made his way to the front. He then crept over to a checkout counter and peaked around the corner.

"Hello?" said a survivor as he walked in.

Ash recognized the guy, he was one of the bandits who attacked the Pokémon Center that other day! The bandit had messy hair and a face full of fuzz, it had been sometime since he last shaved and trimmed his hair. His clothes were muddy and splattered with some fresh blood, he must had gotten into some trouble recently, "Hello," the bandit called out again, "Anyone here?"

As the bandit looked around, Ash got a look at his backpack. The bandit's backpack was large with a lot of pockets. It was well used, this bandit had did a lot of traveling. But he doesn't look like an individualist or a lone wolf, this guy probably couldn't survive very long without a group. Ash knew that the hard way.

Ash was just 5 meters away, he raised his gun and took careful aim at the bandit's head. When he lined up his sights, he tighten his hold of the magnum and squeezed the trigger.

_BOOM!_

The bullet's sonic boom sang within the confines of the drugstore, making Ash's ears ring. The bandit, however, didn't have time to know what hit him. The bullet smashed into his temple and exploded. Half his head splattered with force. The body was pulled down by the heavy backpack, it dropped to its knees as the backpack's weight bent the body in an unnatural position. Red pinkish jelly slurped out of the head and pooled on the floor. Ash passively watched the bandit's body twitch for a minute, then it went slack.

He felt no regret, no remorse. Nothing. He felt more dead than he ought to be. Ash shrugged, the bandit was being stupid anyway so he had it coming.

Ash holstered his revolver and pulled the bandit's backpack off his corpse, trying not to get any blood on it. He took it to a corner of the store where he sift through the contents. It was mostly packed full of canned goods and bottled water. He searched the pouches and found a box of .38 revolver ammo, and a few .12 gauge shells. Ash pocketed the ammo and dug deeper. Basic survival gear. A compass, matches, hobo tools, etc. There was also some gold and jewelry, and silver coins. Ash grabbed the silver coins, maybe he could use these to barter. If he could ever barter.

Finding nothing more, Ash zipped up the backpack and sat it aside. He returned to the body and searched its pockets. He found a stainless steel pocketknife. Ash unfolded it, the blade looked sharp enough. He closed it back up and clipped it to his belt. He searched the other pockets. Ash found a wallet in a back pocket and flipped it open, it had no driver's license, bank or insurance cards. He opened up the pouch, and 400 pokédollars of cash spilled out. Ash scooped it up and examined the bills and wondered if there was still any value to them. Probably not, they were so hyper-inflated that toilet paper was worth more than them. Chances are, Faraday Island's surviving populace would still be using cash currency, Ash seen that in Faraday City. He shrugged. Might as well pocket the cash, he could always give it to his friends once he found them.

A loud moan echoed outside, sounds like the zombies were coming to clean up the mess. Ash had no intentions of sticking around to see the show, he got up and stepped outside. His night-vision faded as the sun shined over his face. He checked if Pikachu was still on his shoulder, sure enough he was, sitting quietly while staring out into space. Ash sniffed the air, picked up Natas's scent again, and head off to track him down.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	50. Ch 50: Cell of Horrors

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter L_

_Cell of Horrors_

The barriers won't keep the hordes out for long if under siege, but it kept the stray ones out. Ash's friends hunkered down within the dark confines of an abandoned office building, their Pokémon huddled beside their trainers for dear comfort as each took turns on watch. Surrounding them were powered-down office equipment, not used in about a month. Remnants of the computer age useless to their survival. Anyone having any bright ideas about recreating the global internet were fantasizing, the infrastructure of the internet couldn't stand without the people who keeps that network going. Eventually it collapsed just a few days after the initial outbreak, cutting humanity off from itself.

But Faraday Island still had hope, its most populace and technologically advanced city still stood with its lights blazing. Cilan managed to get a small radio working again and tune it to the local news channel. He heard a soft crackle of the Emergency Broadcast System coming out of its tiny speaker. It was a disappointment. The station wasn't broadcasting, it was transmitting. After listening to the electronic voice repeat its emergency message for about an hour, the group was convinced the radio host, or DJ whatever, was gone. Cilan turned the radio off and stuffed it in his backpack.

"I hope Ash's Pokémon are okay." he muttered.

"Pansage." Pansage croaked.

"Axew." the Tusk Pokémon muttered.

It had been almost a full day since Ash was bit, the group can safely assume he was dead. Mark was probably too, his own Pokémon know this too. Mark's Emolga huddled up beside Iris and snuggled by her, Plusle and Minun cower close to Mark's Pikachu as they tried to comfort each other. Their eyes were full of tears, but they had long since stopped crying. Brock's shadow drift over them as he passed by, they looked up and watched as he peaked out through one of the barriers, "Hadn't seen any for 40 minutes," he said, "The zombies must had either crawled back into their holes or they're not here at all."

"Oh they're there," said Professor Oak, "They're just keeping to themselves."

He reached into the pocket of his dirty lab coat and pulled out an empty vial. Oak stared at it in the palm of his hand, checking it for imperfections. He had snatched a few sterile sample jars from the Pokémon Center, thinking he might help search for a cure or vaccine for the Undead epidemic. Oak personally doubt there was even a slim chance for a cure, and he was 100 percent sure that the discovery of the cure won't safe the world. No chance for that. The thought of diseased tissue resurrecting after a few minutes, hours, even days from the point of death, still haunted him. Over the past month, the survivors had learned so much about the zombies. Such as their craving for living blood and reanimation of ancient and modern graves. But a step towards a cure had yet to be taken. Assuming it can be taken at all.

Professor Oak pocket the vial and sighed, "You okay, Delia?"

"Yes, Sam." said Mrs. Ketchum.

She sat up from the worn down office couch and shook her head, "Was it all for nothing?" she asked.

"All for what, Del?" Oak asked.

"About Ash, how we supported him to become a Pokémon trainer and advance up the latter. Was it all for nothing?"

Professor Oak shook his head, "No, if Ash hadn't met his friends most of them would be dead in day one. You and I might haven't even gotten this far."

Delia nodded, "It was good to have Ash here when the world ended, but something was telling me he wasn't here by coincidence."

Cilan wondered into the room, his face stuck in a blank stare, "A stranger offered Ash an invitation to come here, and his other friends also received the same invite. I agree, no way anyone could set up a blind dinner inviting selected people and the chef accidentally burn down the restaurant at that night. No way at all, it was all a set up."

Question marks popped mid-air, "A setup?" Misty asked.

"Someone brought all of us on this island, centering it all around Ash. Whoever it was, he or she might be still taking orders for their plans."

The group thought about it for a moment, after a long silence they came to a conclusion, "This zombie epidemic was intentional." Professor Oak suggested.

"And the whole world suffered." said Misty.

"But what does Ash had to do with all this?" Iris asked.

"He has a pure heart and aura," said Professor Oak, "Ash may had lost a lot of his humanity but I can still see his aura's still good. He's determined to protect us, so he did the ultimate sacrifice. Whoever had plans for him, the fact that Ash got bit probably threw a monkey wrench into their network of plans."

Brock shook his head, "I doubt it, anyone could get bit or die and turn. They _had _to have some plan in place if Ash does get bit."

Horrible as the truth was, it made sense. A lot of people they seen killed or bitten in the past few weeks had turned, a miracle that most of Ash's friends were still alive and walking. The plague had gotten Dawn and Gary at day one, and recently May and Max. Their bodies burned and crudely buried with hundred others who succumbed. There might be some luck for Tracey, as he was still missing. He could be live or dead, maybe Undead. Would he ever turn up? Nobody knows. Tracey was that resourceful, so he might have hunkered down somewhere, away from the mess.

Everybody nodded, agreeing with Brock. Now only if they could find evidence for these theories . . .

A window crashed in the back, followed by loud snarling. The trainers quickly grabbed their guns and went to investigate, "Emo." Emolga stammered as she hugged Iris tightly.

"There, there, Emolga," said Iris, "It's not like there's a horde out there."

"Axew." reassured Axew.

She soon realized she stood corrected as the group came around the corner, and found a busted window with probably a horde of zombies crawling through. With teeth gnashing and rotting arms flailing, the Undead horde squeezed through the meter by meter wide window as they clawed their way inside. Packed shoulder to shoulder, the zombies unintentionally sealed the window like a plug fitted over a bathtub drain. Some zombies didn't notice, their red eyes locked on their prey. Others realized they were stuck, making feeble attempts to break free. The few zombies that managed to get in were quickly put down by a few shots, the bursts of noise riled up the stuck zombies and the rest of the horde outside. Aggravated, the Undead horde began putting a backbone into their siege.

Suddenly more windows shatter, barriers snap, then the walls started cracking.

"They're breaking through the wall!" cried Misty.

Professor Oak cocked his shotgun and fired a round into the horde, blasting a humanoid skull into a million bloody pieces, "Everybody grab your stuff, we're getting out of here!"

The group rushed back and grabbed their backpacks before bolting out the front door, once they ran into the street the another horde was coming around the intersection. Thousands of zombies, clustered into a tight marching army, quickly took notice of their pray just 30 meter away. The group gulped their screams and looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief and shock. Mark's Pokémon leaped up into Delia and Iris's arms, terrified and ready to loose control of their bowels.

"This way!" cried Professor Oak.

Everyone turned to find Professor Oak running as fast as his aging frame could take him. The group quickly caught up with him, barely carrying their Pokémon and weapons as they hurry along. Eventually the survivors ran out of sight. For the zombies, this wasn't a problem. They already tagged their scent, getting a rough idea where they were going.

**. . .**

Natas almost laughed how easy it was, he hoisted the bulging Kevlar bag over his shoulder and started walking. Ash's Pokémon inside kicked and squirm, spitting out curse words in their Pokémon language. They attack the bag with ferocity, one of them even used a special move. He felt the bag jolt off his back for a split second, then it went still, with the Pokémon panting.

He found them by luck, Natas didn't consider it luck but more of a coincidence. It just so happen that a Snivy stuck its head up over the edge of a storefront roof, giving their location away. With no tranquilizer darts or rubber bullets, it was going to be a challenge to literally bag the Pokémon. Natas realized why the Boss wanted him to use the flashbangs. When he got to the top of the stairwell, he pulled the pin off a nine banger and tossed it out the door and onto the roof.

Ash's Pokémon were too tired and depressed to do anything, they had let their guards down. Surprisingly they were mostly relaxed, they must had been convinced that the Undead wouldn't get up here. Of course, they hadn't planned on being poached upon by a human being. When the flashbang went off, a second sun open up with a deafening boom. The wall mostly shielded Natas from the flashbang's effects, neon spots peppered his vision while his ears rang an annoying tune. It wasn't debilitating, but the same couldn't be said for the Pokémon.

The flashbang struck true, Ash's Pokémon grab their faces and ears, rolling around on the gravel roof as their senses were temporary disabled. Natas worked fast. He fished out the Kevlar bag, stuffed the Pokémon in one by one, and tied a knot on it. The bag was heavy, weighing somewhere around a hundred kilograms from their combined weight. No matter, Natas's arms were as big wide as a man's leg. The bag was light for him.

He soon realized that two Pokémon were missing, Unfezant and Oshawott. Natas wasn't worried about Unfezant, the Boss said its expendable. Pikachu, of course, was dead. So that leaves the clumsy Oshawott, who was nowhere to be found. Natas did a quick search of the nearby area for the Sea Otter Pokémon, he found no trace of him anywhere. Luke sighed, no matter, that Oshawott probably succumbed to the harsh reality of the apocalyptic world. Though the Boss instructed that he must also bag the Oshawott, even if he's dead or Undead, Natas decided that could wait. He got a feeling the Sea Otter Pokémon might turn up.

_All in due time_, Natas thought as he casually walked down the deserted road, navigating around burning garbage and wrecked cars, _I'll take care of these Pokémon for now, I'll worry about Oshawott later_.

**. . .**

He was hearing footsteps for 5 minutes now, it felt like hours. Oshawott held his breath and hid on the rooftop, listening to the rhythm of footfalls as they sound below. The footsteps sounded almost human, but something about it was kinda off. Whoever it was, it sometimes dragged its feet, making soft growling and moaning sounds. The voices sounded familiar as well as alien, it boggled Oshawott's mind as the sound bounced around inside his head.

Oshawott crawled over to the edge and laid on his back, the human or bi-pedal Pokémon, or something, lingered around the area, as if it was searching for something. Was it looking for helpless Oshawott? The thought made the Sea Otter Pokémon's skin crawl.

_It's after me_, Oshawott thought, feeling perspiration forming on his body, _It's gonna eat me!_

He couldn't help but shiver, Oshawott's eyes bulge from his head as he clench his teeth. He tried holding still when he heard the thing stepped underneath him, it started rummaging through something down at the street. Metal cans and cardboard dropped onto the road, some stuff were set aside. The thing muttered unintelligible words, followed by a sharp growl.

_Go away, please go away!_

The tension build to the breaking point, Oshawott decided to take a peak over the roof. Just to see who it was.

He wished he hadn't.

There was Ash, and Pikachu, both were Undead. The duo were going through the truck of a wrecked car, probably searching for supplies. Oshawott was stunned to find their eyes glowed a bright grass green, sparkling underneath the apocalyptic sun. Ash was going through a plastic tub inside the car, he pulled out some ammunition boxes and was stuffing them into his backpack. Pikachu just sat there, giving off soft snarls as he blankly stare out across the road. When Ash was done, he stood up and sniffed the air, then turned his head towards Oshawott.

The Sea Otter Pokémon ducked behind the concrete roof rail before Ash spotted him. He covered his eyes, his body shook with paranoia. Did "Ash" saw him? Was that thing even Ash? It acted human, but it wasn't. That thing's skin was grayer than the color gray, and was starting to peel. Oh no, no no no no _no_! He might try to eat poor Oshawott, pin him down and tear out his guts. A million thoughts of what the Undead Ash could do to him raced across his mind, Oshawott started figuring out a plan on where to run. If Ash could somehow come up here . . .

Wait, that stairwell door wasn't locked.

Oshawott unveiled his eyes . . . only to find himself under Ash's shadow.

**. . .**

Oshawott broke down crying. Not a surprise, it was just what Ash expected. The little guy was probably in a state of denial, among all the Pokémon Ash had Oshawott was one of a few who liked Ash more than his other Pokémon. With hot tears trailing down his face, Oshawott screamed and cried so loud that Faraday City might had heard it. Ash thought about picking him up and cuddling him, but decided it was a bad idea. The smell of death, plus his room temperature hands, would overwhelm the Sea Otter Pokémon. Oshawott would slip into shock.

Ash tried to speak to Oshawott, nothing but garbled groans came out. Oh, he forgotten he couldn't speak, and neither does Pikachu. So much for communication.

Then Oshawott started to make a run for it, he scrambled to his feet and charged for the side. With barely a meter of space to the next rooftop, Oshawott hopped on the concrete rail and jumped. He caught the edge, just barely. He tried to pull himself up, but he couldn't. He just didn't have enough energy. Oshawott then screamed for help, thrashing his little stubby feet as he struggled to hang on to the edge. On ordinary circumstances, this would had been funny. Reality was, Oshawott was attracting nothing but Undead with his pleas for help. Ash knew Oshawott wasn't that stupid, he knew the agonizing truth.

_He couldn't accept the sudden change_, he thought, _he couldn't accept the apocalypse and the fact I'm Undead_.

Pikachu just sat there on his shoulder with a passive face, just watching Oshawott as he dangled above a 3 meter drop. After a full minute of screaming, Ash heard enough. He reached out over the gap and plucked Oshawott off the edge and sat him back down on the roof. The Sea Otter Pokémon looked up with tear glazed eyes in silent reprehension, then lowered his head and sobbed like a small child, "Oshawott." he softly said.

_I only wish I could do more for you, little guy_. Ash thought pitifully.

Ash turned around and head back to the stairs, just before he stepped through the door Oshawott stopped crying. He looked back and saw the Sea Otter Pokémon running after him, Oshawott stopped just a meter away from Ash and looked up at him, with those adorable little eyes. Not only Oshawott was terrified of him, he couldn't let him go either. Ash shrugged, sometimes Oshawott couldn't make up his mind. That makes him cute at times.

Ash gestured Oshawott to follow him, then head downstairs. The Sea Otter Pokémon crept down the steps and stick close to his Undead trainer as they got back to the street. Then continued following Natas's trail.

**. . .**

They couldn't run any faster and farther. Every time they looked over their shoulders the advancing horde seemingly double in size. Things got worse when the Undead started jogging after them, flinging their arms, moaning banshee wails. They went from passive to pissed in a split second, either because they were desperate or were provoked in some way.

Whatever the fires did, the intense heat physically done some of them in. Half the zombies appeared scorched, their skins burnt black from the intense heat. It didn't bother them, they didn't even notice. Their rapid movements, cracked the burned skins and black blood oozed out, making them look like vicious swamp creatures.

The group panicked, their feet kicked up dust as they sprinted down the street. Within minutes, their legs started cramping and they slowed down. They looked back, the Undead had yet to be tired, assuming they had any stamina at all.

"They're catching up!" cried Cilan.

"We need to hold up somewhere!" cried Misty.

Up ahead, a large fence loomed. Behind it was a large warehouse building, apparently under construction before the apocalypse. The front gate was wide open, almost like it was inviting the group through with open arms.

"Hey," said Cilan, "I think I seen this building before."

"Pansage." agreed Pansage.

"Whatever it is," said Professor Oak, "It looks sturdy enough. Come on people, close this gate!"

The group ran through the gate, as the Undead approached Cilan and Brock grabbed both halves of the gate and pulled. The hinges squealed and groaned as the gate clicked shut. There was a nearby chain hanging off the fence, dangling a thick padlock. Brock grabbed it and looped the two halves of the fences together, then clicked them together with the padlock.

"That's not going to hold them off for long." said Brock.

"Probably five minutes," said Cilan, "Long enough for us to get a few barriers up on those windows."

Brock turned back towards the industrial complex and sighed, "I hope this place won't be our catacombs."

**. . .**

"Well this is ironic." said Natas, watching the whole scene about a hundred meters away.

Ash's group wound up at the facility, a big surprise. It doesn't look like they were going to take permanent shelter here, as they brought the horde with them. He watched as the zombies hugged the gate, bashing it with their rotten hands and biting it with their teeth. The fence stood 3 meters tall, planted into the earth in solid concrete. Natas estimated that it would take a couple of hours for the Undead to break through, 2 hours was all he needed. Natas repositioned the bulging Kevlar bag and head off around the back.

The zombies were so stupid, they didn't realize there was another gate on the east side of the facility. Obviously open. Natas walked through and shook his head, the dead were so easy to fool. So easy that he almost don't have to worry about them. Natas walked along the walls of the facility, the glistening metal sidings tower over him with an eerie shadow. He looked around for a hatch, he knew there was a hatch somewhere. He could get down to the lower levels and find the prison cells, then get to the machine from there.

Ah, there it was. The basement doors. The steel doors were locked with a solid padlock, Natas pulled out his .45 and aimed it at the padlock. A single shot blew the padlock apart with a deafening boom. There was no need to worry about the noise, all the zombies were occupied at the moment.

Natas holstered the gun and pulled the doors open, he check to see if anyone was watching before descending into the darkness, closing the steel doors behind him. Pitch blackness greeted him with silence. Natas pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on. Before him was a concrete set of stairs, heading down to who know's what, "Hello?" he called out, his voice echoed down into the darkness.

Nothing, practically barren of survivors and zombies.

This should be easy.

Natas walked down the stairs, watching his steps. He could hear the Pokémon in the Kevlar bag, breathing heavily. They had used up all their energy trying to break out, they should be much more easier to handle. Natas kept his ears perked for any signs of zombies. He heard no sign of the hordes above him, the facility's construction was well built indeed. No one was going to expect a Team Rocket laboratory down here, no one. Completely out of sight and out of mind. Even the zombies won't think of it. Heck, they don't think at all. They never do. Probably the Ketchum boy don't had any brains left . . .

Natas shuttered from that last thought. If he was indeed Undead, could he still have any signs of his humanity? Maybe a little? He highly doubted it, a lot of brain cells were killed off within the first 5 minutes of death. Any memories remaining would probably habits and training that were built in, built deeper than a well. That would make his friends and family sh*t their pants.

_Damn_. Natas thought.

He reached the end of the stairs without a problem. Before him was a massive hall lined with solid steel doors, they were as wide as an average human spreading his arms out and as tall as a freight car door. It was an estimate of 30 to 40 centimeters thick, solid enough to withstand a direct hit of a 100mm tank gun in point blank range. Serious stuff. The doorknobs weren't really knobs at all, they were bulkheads, placed at the center of the steel doors. When engaged, 25mm thick stainless-steel latches snaked into the frame, locking it in place. Whoever was locked in these special prisons cells, you'd be damn sure that they won't get out. To Natas, it wasn't over kill, it was . . . appropriate. They were designed to contain Pokémon the size of 3 Bouffants. The designers claimed it can withstand a repeated barrage of an Onix, Natas personally believed them. He bet the frames would break first before the door itself would go.

Of course, he wasn't handling a massive beast. He was handling Pokémon so small, they can be picked up and hugged. These Pokémon were trained to battle other Pokémon, if they go insane within these walls they might turn on each other. Natas saw it happen in person, there was a major difference between Pokémon battling and Pokémon _fighting_. He wished not to see it again.

Natas looked for a suitable cell, a certain cell. True, these cells were basically the same by design. But these cells were used during the Giovanni-era for the Pokémon black market. Natas had no idea how many cells were there, but it had to be small scale. Pokémon don't exactly thrive to well on Faraday Island, but near human civilization they live off of the cities for most of their needs. Still, their numbers remain small, so the poachers bring in a little everyday. Eventually these cells get cramped with Pokémon, the cells were so well insulated that the loudest of all screams would go unheard. He couldn't imagine the prisoners were thinking when the apocalypse began, realizing these cells would become their tombs.

Most of these cells were "occupied," Natas could tell with the red tags on the left sides of the doors. He played with his flashlight, searching for a vacant cell. If there was a red tag, that means the cell is locked. The cells would only lock when occupied, no matter what. Sensors inside the cell would make sure of that. If their was a green tag, then the door was empty and unlocked. These cells can be locked and unlocked manually, but there was an electronic switch that can unlock all the doors. Hopefully that switch wouldn't be triggered, though he couldn't hear the Undead Pokémon inside those cells it doesn't mean they weren't there.

He searched for five minutes and swore, not a single green tag came up, "F*ck it." he said to himself.

Natas picked out a cell on random, yes . . . this cell would do. Cell# 115. He sat the Kevlar bag and flashlight down and grabbed the bulkhead with both hands, with a sharp twist to the left the door came unlocked. Natas worked fast, he threw the door open and tossed the Kevlar bag inside, then sealed the door and locked it before its Undead occupants could figure out what was happening.

_If they stay in that bag_, Natas thought, _then the Undead couldn't get them_.

He grinned, they might not even get out of the cell. No telling who was in this cell. Come to think of it, he doesn't wanna know. Natas grabbed his flashlight and head off to find the security room.

**. . .**

Snivy doesn't get scared easily. Compared to the rest of Ash's Pokémon, she was the most bravest and mature Pokémon her trainer had ever caught. She could take on Pokémon three times her size and intimidate others with simple shrugs and smiles. Few Pokémon in the world would put the fear of Arceus into her. Only a few. One of those Pokémon had his tail chopped off, the rest were pretty much dead. No need to be afraid of them anymore.

She thought she had seen it all, the blood, gore, her friends dying before her very eyes. It shaken her up. Now she was finally scared out of her mind, and Pignite and Scraggy's screaming weren't helping.

The Pokémon fought against the thick bag in the blackness, as Pignite and Scraggy fruitlessly slash against the bag's walls Snivy began looking for the knot. Her hands frantically felt around the bag as her friends kicked their legs at her back. Somewhere in the bag, there was the way out. There had to be away out. Choked on fear and deafen by the screaming, Snivy could barely concentrate as she fumbled over what she thought was the knot. She grabbed it and started to bite into it, he only succeeded in numbing her jaw.

_Think, think, think! _Snivy panicked.

A light bulb went off in her head, why not use Razor Leaf? She sucked in air and released whatever leaves she had on her body. A blast of air smashed against her as the bag burst open, everybody tumbled out and fell flat on the floor.

"Scraggy Scrag." Scraggy said weakly. _That hurts._

"Pignite." Pignite muttered. _Oww._

Snivy shook out the cobwebs from her head and asked, "Snivy Sniv?" _You guys okay?_

"Scrag." said Scraggy. _Yeah._

"Pignite." said Pignite. _I'm fine_.

The room was lit with a single lightbulb, so dim that Snivy could barely see her hand in front of her face. The air smelled rotten and stale, like something had fermented in here for a week. They were already used to the smell, it was the least of their concern. The group looked at each other, seeing they were okay. That was good, no injuries or anything.

They immediately turned towards the way out, it was a solid metal door that loomed over them. Scraggy and Pignite began banging away at it, spitting harsh curse words while demanding their release. Snivy just stood there, half amused, while watching the whole show. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that door was built to last, no way they could blast their way out with a Flamethrower. Hopefully Pignite won't try that, she didn't see any vents in this cell.

"Pigniiite!" Pignite squealed. _Let us ouuut!_

"Scraggy Scraggy!" Scraggy hissed. _Open this door!_

Snivy just shook her head, they were just wasting their time. Natas isn't going to open up for them, not in a million years. She sat down against the wall and took a moment to collect her thoughts as her friends went insane around her.

_How come I hadn't seen it sooner? _Snivy asked herself.

Luke Natas betrayed them, turned on them without warning. He helped them in the Pokémon Center, kept everybody's cool together. Even kept them safe. Why? Why did he kidnapped her and his friends? Does he have Oshawott? Or Unfezant? Maybe the others? Who knows. Snivy thought she heard Axew and Pansage while Natas was moving them, she believed she did. They were somewhere in who know's where, outside this cell of the Netherworld.

Did they know she and Scraggy and Pignite were being kidnapped. Chances are, no. They sounded like they had their hands full, to occupied to notice their plight. Snivy sighed, she and the others were on their own.

After 5 minutes of banging on the door and making noise, Scraggy and Pignite tired themselves out. They pant as they pressed their backs against the wall, sliding down till they were sitting on the floor. When they caught their breath, Pignite and Scraggy broke down in tears.

"Scraggy Scraggy!" Scraggy cried. _I want out! I want out!_

"Pig!" cried Pignite. _Ash!_

"Scrag!" _Ash!_

"Pignite!" _Ash, help!_

"Scrag/ Pignite!" _Ash!_

Snivy whipped out a vine and slapped their faces in a single swoosh, their eyes bulge out of their skulls as they pressed their hand against their welting cheeks, "Snivy Sni, Snivy Snivy!?" Snivy screamed at them. _He is dead, don't you guys get that!?_

They answered her with stares.

"Snivy Snivy!" _It's over, we're done!_

"Scrag." Scraggy muttered. _No._

"Pig . . . nite." Pignite said, a fresh tear trailed down his cheek. _No . . . No._

"Snivy Sniv," muttered Snivy, "Snivy Snivy." _I'm sorry guys, we're done. Nobody's going to help us_.

Scraggy cried as he flopped onto the floor, "Scraggy!" _Nooo!_

The scream was absorbed by the thick concrete walls, muting him. Snivy huddled up to him and cradled his head, the Shedding Pokémon buried its face into her belly, releasing all his grief.

"Pignite?" Pignite asked. _What now?_

Snivy shrugged, "Snivy Sniv, Sni." _Sit here and wait for death, I guess_.

"Pignite Pi, Pignite." _That won't be long, we're running out of air_.

"Sniv." _Crap._

Scraggy quieted down and sat up, then leaned his heavy head on Snivy's shoulder, "Scraggy?" _Why is this happening?_

"Pignite, Pi." said Pignite. _How is this happening?_

Snivy couldn't answer either question, she just stared at the floor, trying to contain her own tears. The group sat in silence, staring at each other. They couldn't figure out how they got into this, nor could they figure out how to get out of it. As far as they could tell, they were sealed from the outside world with no help coming.

_No help coming_. Snivy thought as she stroke Scraggy's head.

An ominous growl broke the depressing mood, everyone turned towards the back of the cell. Within the dark shadows, an abomination moved. Stirring awake. Snivy couldn't tell what it looked looked like, it looked more like a fuzzy black plush ball but that was it. The thing stirred as its bones cracked, hissing death and putrid odors from his nose and mouth. Suddenly its eyes opened, lighting the room with a bright red glow.

Pignite and Scraggy bolted towards the door in desperate panic, pounding away with their fists, "Pignite!" Pignite screamed. _Help us!_

"Scrag!" Scrag yelled. _Help!_

Scraggy took a step back and charged at the door, smashing into it with his heavy skull. It gave off a metal thunk, knocking Scraggy to the floor. Snivy saw it didn't even leave a dent, the door held. She then turned back towards the creature, its red eyes staring back at her. Letting out loud hiss. Snivy closed her eyes and extended her vines, _Looks like its all or nothing now_, Snivy thought, _I'm screwed, my friends are screwed_. _Might as well fight to the bitter end_.

The creature wasted no time, it charged at the group, letting out a banshee wail that killed their screams.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	51. Ch 51: Six Shooter and Desert Eagle

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter LI_

_Six Shooter and Desert Eagle_

Natas found the security room alright. Much to his disappointment, the security cameras were offline. Their LCD moniters sat dormant, their signals cut off from the multiple TV cameras throughout the facility. Interestingly enough, the security office's satellite phone still worked. But barely. He had to wait for at least 10 minutes in trying to place the long-distance call back to HQ. The phone lines were encrypted, meaning the message is scrambled as they were sent through the wires and reassembled at their destination. It helped clear up the signal, but it barely function after the collapse of the internet. Nonetheless, Natas got his call through, he squeezed the phone tight in his hand as he looped a finger around the spiral cords.

"Ash's Pokémon are in the cells," he said, "As you commanded." He didn't add that he hadn't captured Oshawott yet, Natas had a feeling the wotter would turn up sooner or later. He sat nervously and waited for his employer's response.

"Good," said the Boss, his voice sounded loud and clear, not sounding like a tunnel like in the communicator, "Are they sharing cells?"

"Yes." said Natas.

"With the original owner?"

"Yes."

"An added bonus."

Natas leaned forward in his chair and pressed the phone tighter to his ear, "Sir," he said, "Ash's friends are here, on the roof of the facility. What should I do?"

"Wait and see if Ash turns up," said the Boss, "If he does, you must keep him busy for as long as possible. We're sending in reinforcements to come pick him and his Pokémon up. I don't care if he destroys the facility, we have plenty more machines around the world to raise the dead. Right now, that machine on Faraday Island keeps the dead around the world reanimated. Once we got the other facilities online and operational, we won't be needed that one anymore."

Natas raise an eyebrow, "Not anymore sir?"

"That facility is simply a prototype, society still has an iron grip in multiple pockets of Kanto and Sinnoh and full control in the island regions. Unova is still under siege, the regional guard managed to hold Nimbasa City while its neighboring towns are going to shit around them. Once we get the other facilities online, there would be few bastions of humanity left."

"What about all the Pokémon in the world?" Natas asked.

"Same as humankind, but much worse. They would be under our _control_, or we planned to. The Legendary Pokémon are already overwhelmed, we got sporadic reports that Ho-Oh had crash-landed somewhere in Unova a few weeks back. We're still checking validity on that, but it said that Ho-Oh had used up most of his energy and simply gave out. So far, no claims of _Undead _Legendary Pokémon . . . yet."

The Boss clearly had a bigger plan in store for the world, what this plan was Natas would never know. It looked like his objective was complete. The Boss simply said to keep Ash and his friends busy until Team Rocket reinforcements arrived. Natas trusted the Boss, yet he doubt reinforcements would arrive in time.

"Okay, sir," said Natas, "I'll keep them busy."

"Good, Luke," said the Boss, "Its all or nothing now, I'll be sure to pay your pension after this."

_Click_.

Natas sat the phone back on the receiver, then sighed. He doesn't have that much ammunition, only a couple boxes of .16 gauge shells and a few clips of .45 magnum rounds. He had the wrong type of .22 ammo for his silenced pistol and useless 9mm rounds. The odds seemed slim, going up against a small group of a dozen trainers and Pokémon, whom were better armed. But they weren't trained soldiers, not trained to take lives. Natas had years of training underneath his belt, but he couldn't deny himself. He could wound up dead for all he knew.

_All or nothing_. Natas thought

He got up and drew his Desert Eagle, then head for the roof.

**. . .**

Ash noted how Oshawott was keeping his distance. He didn't wanna get at least 5 meters close to him. The poor thing might never get used to the idea that his trainer was Undead, yet still had a conscious. Oshawott lagged behind, then sprint to catch up. Often hiding behind cover for a few seconds before moving to the next. Ash figured the Sea Otter Pokémon doesn't trust him, yet his conditioning kept him tied to him. Oshawott was still his Pokémon, he would still follow orders. Ash wondered how he could give out simple commands since he couldn't speak, he also wondered how Pikachu might get some messages across since he couldn't speak either.

_Emotion_, Ash thought, _I need emotion_.

To come to think of it, Ash wasn't sure what he felt. The only emotions he could feel were anger and satisfaction, nothing else. He didn't feel love, happiness, hate. Just those two emotions. The world feels so dead, nothing like before. Ash shook the thought out of his head, it wasn't a total lost. There was still a chance, a chance to rebuild society. He might figure out a way to go back to Pokémon training, but he doubt it. Most of the Pokémon in the world probably succumbed to the plague. Maybe scientists had hold themselves up in a lab somewhere, struggling desperately in search of a cure . . . or they could be slowly going insane and were killing each other.

_Mad scientists_, Ash thought, _great._

But how do you cure a disease that anyone turns upon death? He'd seen a guy turn within 30 seconds upon death on day one. Was it from the bite of the Undead Timburr? From the shock, perhaps? Or just bad luck? Things like this should have explanations, some sort of reason behind it. Iris's Emolga turning? How did she turn? She accidentally shot herself with a .357 magnum, that very magnum now sat in a holster clipped to his belt. Ash drew it and checked the ammo, the box of .357 ammo he found in that car was a life savor. Sooner or later, the ammunition supplies will dry up on the Island, assuming nobody's making anymore. Mark had considered making more ammo, Ash still had his famous coin shots tucked away in his pocket.

_I wonder where you are now, Mark_. Ash thought.

All the crossbow bolts were gone, and Mark's body seemingly vanished. Had it got back up and walked away? No doubt about it. Ash got back up and walked away, so why not Mark? Maybe he still had his brain since his crossbow wasn't on that workbench. Where would Mark had gone, Ash might never know. It makes sense that he could be looking for the group, but would they take him back?

_Would they take _me _back? _

Chances are, if Ash and Pikachu show up, their friends would shoot them. Yes, they would hesitate. They might wonder if they still had any part of them left. The green eyes should tell them otherwise, it might be a giveaway that they're still themselves – barely. Ash wondered how he was going to convince the group that he pose no threat to them. He couldn't tell them, he must _show _them?

But how?

Natas's scent trail grew stronger. Things began to feel vaguely familiar, Ash could almost hear the ghosts of people shopping and commuting down the deserted streets on that fateful day. Bird's singing, children playing, daily conversations. He tried to hear it, instead he heard the familiar moans of Undead. No, they weren't moans, they were growls and wails. Amped up. Something that aggravated them, was it Natas?

No, it couldn't be. The scent trail points away from the source of the Undead calls. So what was it?

Ash had his answer when gunshots rang out.

"Axew!" cried a faint Tusk Pokémon.

_That sounds like Iris's Axew_. Ash thought_._

Ash started jogging, Oshawott quickly followed close behind. The Sea Otter Pokémon panted and wheezed as he tried to keep up, his stamina all used up. Not for Ash, he felt like he had unlimited stamina. He made several turns while dodging wrecked vehicles and corpses, then stopped.

_Well what'd you know_, Ash thought, _I remember now_.

It was the construction site Ash, Iris, and Cilan had passed when they first arrived in Carson! Not much had changed, except all the construction workers were gone and the windows were boarded up. A gate that used to be locked was now wide open, Ash walk through and looked for the source of the noise.

He was just in time to witness a massive Undead horde break down another segment of the fence, then pour right into the dirt courtyard like a flood. Gunshots sounded, several of their heads popped before they went down. But more kept coming, and coming, and coming. Some of them jogged, most simply walked. The horde didn't notice Ash, maybe they did, but they weren't taking much interest. Ash casually peaked around the corner and looked up at the roof.

And there his friends were, trying to hold the facility. Cilan and Misty looked like they were at wit's end, the rest remain calm and focused, firing away with Remington shotguns, .22 rifles, pistols, and M3A1 submachine guns. They were taking time aiming down the sights, then fired, getting headshots every time. Even the group's accuracy had remarkably improved, it was not enough to stop the advancing hordes. Enough to slow them down, but not stop them. Sooner or later, they would ran out of ammunition. They only brought so much when they first left the Pokémon Center.

Ash knew he couldn't take the hordes head on, no point in doing so. He had to find a way to the roof. Ash looked around. There, a ladder built into the wall of the warehouse that leads up to the roof. The zombies weren't paying any attention to it, they were heading straight towards the group. No way they could figure out the easy way up, they would unintentionally climb over each other instead. That would take some time, Ash was sure to beat them to the roof. All he had to do was make his way through the horde.

But how?

Ash simply shrugged, _If I keep a passive posture, the zombies wouldn't mind and I will walk right past_.

But wait, Oshawott's still alive. He would be snack food for the zombies if they caught sight of him. Ash thought for a moment, was there a way to make it through with Oshawott unharmed? After a quick few seconds, Ash simply shrugged, _Screw it_, he thought, _If Mark was here, he would just simply wing it._

Ash turned to Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokémon just stood there, staring at him. He looked up and pointed towards an imaginary object in the distance. Oshawott took the bait and turned to where he was pointing. With the Sea Otter Pokémon's back turned, Ash rushed over and scooped him up.

**. . .**

Hunkered on the roof, the group realized it was a lost cause. The Undead had swarmed the courtyard. Most gathered below the group, reaching out with decaying hands and septic jaws. The rest wondered aimlessly around the courtyard, looking for easier prey. Axew and Pansage hugged each other, tearing and screaming hard. Mark's Pokémon huddled by an air vent, also hugging each other and screaming. The trainers shook to their bones, their weapons almost slipping out of their sweaty palms.

The moans and roars of Undead bombard them harder than any Pokémon move. It got to a point where the moans became background noise, just part of the apocalyptic environment. It wasn't hard to figure out when something else started screaming.

"You hear that?" Misty asked.

"What is it?" Brock asked.

A short pause.

"It sounds like Oshawott." said Iris.

Axew shot up to his feet, "Axew?"

The Pokémon stopped screaming and scrambled to the edge, both them and the trainers frantically looked around for the source of the screaming.

"OSHA!" it squealed again.

As if on cue, Ash came running out from around the complex and plowed through the crowd of Undead. Pikachu hanged tight to his shoulder as Oshawott screamed in his trainer's grip. Everybody's jaws dropped, not only they were surprised that Ash showed but but his appearance, "Why's his eyes green?" Delia asked.

Ash _and _Pikachu's eyes glow a bright florescent green, which stood out in the sea of red eyes. What's also stunning was Ash and Pikachu were covered in brackish muck, some of their hair and fur were falling off, revealing greenish gray skin underneath . . .

"What in the world?" Professor Oak asked as he scratched his head.

The zombies didn't react to Ash much, but most of their heads turned when they heard the screaming Oshawott. Ash gave them no time to act as he burrow through the field like a football player against a rival team. He quickly got to the edge of the building and threw Oshawott up with all his strength. The Sea Otter Pokémon shot to the sky, then arched over the roof. Axew just happening to be standing underneath him, the Tusk Pokémon opened up his arms and Oshawott flew on top of him. Both Pokémon hit the roof in a cloud of dust, stunning the other momentary.

Pansage and Mark's Pokémon circled the two within seconds, "Pikachu!?" Mark's Pikachu asked.

Axew sat up, smiling, "Axew." he stuck up a thumb.

"Osha," muttered Oshawott, he laid on his back with arms and legs spread out, shivering underneath his skin. His eyes bulging out from built up terror, "Oshawott."

"What is going on!?" Cilan asked as he stared at Oshawott.

Professor Oak out towards the courtyard, "Look!"

Everybody peered over the edge and saw the show unfold.

Ash limped and staggered on his feet, swerving through the sea of Undead as they tried to get a rotting hand on him. Pikachu hanged on while keeping his tail down, so the Undead won't snag him like a fish. The horde quickly closed in on Ash as he pushed his way towards the ladder, he got out his crowbar and whacked a few Undead out of his way. Skulls and bone crunch upon the impact, knocking them down with a single swipe. When they hit the ground, their Undead comrades trampled on top of their rotting husks, further pulverizing them. Some of the zombies chasing Ash tripped over their down comrades and become roadkill themselves. Others got some sense to walk around them, only to be shoved shoulder to shoulder with other Undead. It was a horribly uncoordinated effort to catch Ash, even though he had the same amount of strength and stamina as them.

The only major difference was Ash had intellect, the Undead horde doesn't.

Ash grabbed a hold of the ladder and pulled himself up, a zombie grabbed him by the ankle nearly knocking him back down. He gave the zombie a sharp kick to the forehead, snapping its neck. The zombie lost his grip and Ash made it in the top.

"Is that even Ash?" Brock asked, "He just looks like Ash, but he isn't. Isn't he?"

Professor Oak shook his head, "I think we're going to find out."

**. . .**

As he made it to the top, Ash looked down to see the horde stretching out their rotting hands up at him, thrashing their claws to get a piece of him. He was stumped, the Undead treated him as a living being even though he was one of them. He thought about it for a moment, what could the reason be on why they were out to grab him . . ? Oh, of course. He still had his soul, that was what they were after. Not his blood. No, they want his soul. They want it because they _knew _he still had it. Not because his eyes were green, because he acted _human_. He ran in such a way that the Undead managed to sniff him out. It provoked them. Insulted them in some way. So they wanted to kill him for it rather than eat him.

_There's so much to learn of the Undead_. Ash thought.

Now how was he going to convince his friends he was the same Ash, whose soul was trapped in the body of a wrench? Him and Pikachu being mute doesn't help anything, and probably his horrid body odor doesn't either. They saw him toss Oshawott up on the roof, but that could mean anything. Oshawott was still terrified of him, even though he saved his life. His friends might make the connection, but they would have trouble believing it.

_How am I going to do this? _Ash asked himself.

He shook his head and groaned. Screw it, he would simply walk right up to them and hope for the best. Ash had to hope his friends see through his Undead form, see it was really him, not just another special case like Mark's cousin Merle. He holstered his crossbow and got to his feet, Ash glanced over at Pikachu. The Undead Mouse Pokémon shrugged, he too had no idea how to approach this. Well, it was all or nothing now. Ash didn't see much hope for him in the long-term, his old life officially over. His Pokémon scattered, most probably dead, the rest scared beyond sanity. His friends were no different, just a small group of them just 50 meters away were wondering if he was either friend or foe. Even if he was alive, they might hesitate. They were all convinced without a doubt he was dead, the only person who wouldn't believe it would be his mom . . .

If Ash could convince her, he convince everyone else. It was a risky gamble, but Ash was out of options. There was nothing more he could do.

_I'm screwed_. He thought as he made his approach.

**. . .**

The group held their ground as Ash approached. The Pokémon huddled behind the trainers, sensing potential death from him. The smell of decay hit the group hard, like a mixture of manure and fish. Misty clutched her gun, others held tight to theirs, yet they dare not raise it. Part of them wanted to shoot their long-time friend, yet another wanted to put him out of his misery. At first glance it looked like Ash wasn't feeling anything particular. A sign of what zombism does to a person. No one wanted to go near him, they took a step back as he came no more than 3 meters away.

They got a look at Ash in full detail, he clutched his crowbar tight in one hand. It was coated with a layer of black blood, well used from the recent troubles. He held it tight to one hand while staring at the group with his bright green eyes. Pikachu sat calmly on his shoulder, looking at them with an emotionless expression. His once bright lemon fur stained with muck. Oak noticed a gauze patch was covering a part of Pikachu's belly, it was slowly turning brown from absorbing the muck from the wound underneath. Whatever it was, it looked quite bad. What happened to him?

Professor Oak glanced back at Ash, then something caught his eye. A big hole, no bigger than his fist, had ruptured below Ash's chest and above his abdomen. He could see where blood used to ooze out, clearly marked on Ash's filthy clothing. Oak recognized it for what it was, it was a gunshot wound, a bad one. Whatever shot him was quite powerful, no doubt the same gun shot Pikachu. The professor understood what actually happened to Ash and Pikachu while he was holding off the hordes.

"Ash," Delia asked, "Is that you?"

Ash nodded.

"Holy moley." said Cilan.

"Pansage." Pansage muttered.

Delia's eyes shot wide open, "Wh What happened to you?"

Ash dropped the crowbar on the roof and pulled up his shirt, showing full scale of the gunshot wound in question. The wound was horribly bruised around its rims, dried blood stained the skin while it bled out. Obviously it wasn't bleeding anymore.

Then Ash turned around to show the exit wound.

His friends looked away, disgusted. Cilan ran for the edge and lost his rations, the Pokémon got a peak at Ash's wound, only to hide behind the trainers again.

"He was shot," Professor Oak concluded, "He didn't succumbed to his bite, somebody shot and killed him. Guys, I'm not sure how he still have his mentality, but not everything came back. He and Pikachu can't speak, so we're stuck with simple gestures."

Ash nodded to confirm.

"Was it Mark?" Brock asked.

Ash nodded no.

"Couldn't have been Mark," said Professor Oak, "They didn't have any shotguns with them."

"Is he gone?" Brock asked.

Ash nodded.

"From the bite?"

Ash nodded again.

Professor Oak stepped forward, "How did you find us, Ash?"

He pointed to his nose.

"He caught our scent," said Iris, "Tracked us here."

Ash nodded.

Brock shrugged, "A perk for being a zombie I guess."

Ash smiled, Oak can tell it was fake but he didn't bother pointing it out. Not only Ash still had his common sense, he still had some fragments of his soul. He stepped back and turned to Delia, "What do you wanna do, Mrs. Ketchum? Ash is still dead, actually rotting. There's no telling how long he could last before breaking down. If we get back to the farm, we can't have him in the house. He's a walking septic tank."

The Undead Ash stood there in silent agreement, Pikachu shifted position and looked out over the courtyard. The zombies below still groaning, trying to find a way up to the roof. There was an Undead _ladder _in the making, several Undead began climbing over each other, slowly building up a human pyramid. Within a few minutes, they would have access.

Delia glanced back at Ash, then at Oak, "So we're going to leave Ash and Pikachu outside like a wild Pokémon?"

Ash nodded. Strangely, he seemed to like the idea.

"I'm sorry Delia, but we don't have much options."

"Well, what if the Undead came passing by. What would happen to him?"

"If he plays it cool, the Undead would pass him. You saw how the Undead didn't react to him until the last minute, he is one of them. If he doesn't provoke them in anyway, they would leave him be."

Delia went silent, she held her head low, trying to figure out her options.

"Should we dig a grave beforehand?" Brock asked.

"I don't see why not." said Iris.

"Axew." Axew agreed.

Ash simply shrugged, he doesn't seemed to care. He did promise that he would come and find them when he got the chance, and he kept his word. Nobody anticipated him to find them while being a zombie, but he had beaten the odds. How was he going to reintegrate into the group? How was he going to go back to Pokémon battling, given the chance? Would there be a _funeral_?

The Undead pyramid grew halfway up the wall, every body added to the pile steadily increase it another few centimeters. There wasn't much time left.

"We should worry about this later guys," said Professor Oak, "Right now, we gotta find a way out of here."

A bullet whizzed by Oak's head, trimming off some white hair as its deafening boom rocked the group. More bullets sounded, everyone dropped to the floor almost on instinct. Ash let out a loud growl, it sounded quite Undead. He drew his gun while bullet's whizzed by him. Everyone turned towards the source of the shooting, and there was Luke Natas, firing away with his Desert Eagle. He managed to let off a few more rounds before the slide made a sickly clack. The gun jammed. Natas swore and ran off down a stairwell as Ash went off after him. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and let out a wail, identical to the Undead Mouse Pokémon at the Pokémon Center and campsite. Ash quickly holstered his crowbar and raised up a magnum, he and Pikachu went down the dark stairwell after Natas.

The group was stunned, confused about what just happen. They quickly snapped out of it when more gunshots sounded down below, "Ash," cried Delia, "Wait!"

The Pokémon chirped loud panicked tones as the group followed Ash into the warehouse.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	52. Ch 52: The Sum of All Fears

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter LII_

_The Sum of All Fears_

_So this is how it ends_, Snivy thought as she sat against the wall, she was covered in her friend's and own blood. The dark tomb, noisy until a few minutes ago, felt like it was closing in on her, _the world is dead, my trainer is dead, my friends are dead. We have no cause to fight for. We just keep running and running. From what? The inevitable? A fate worst than death? Would a deity take over our bodies, turning our husks into heartless monsters that only kill and feed? What had become of us, what had become of the world? I fought battles to the full extend, I won some, I lost some. It was all good. All that for this?_

Snivy coughed and spat out slimy coppery fluid. Her throat burned like an inferno, she pressed a hand on the gash on her side. That thing got her there with a tusk. She managed to stop the bleeding, but she could no longer feel that area. It was numb, completely numb, like it wasn't even there. Must be infected. Gangrenous probably. No herb would save her. She glanced over at Scraggy's body. The thing pulled his legs off and tore a gash through his neck. She managed to clamp down on the bleeding in his legs, but she only managed to buy him time. Useless time. Scraggy passed away, crying. Pignite didn't make it either, he took on the beast and burned it with Flamethrower. Bad move. The fire ate up all the oxygen, but he managed to kill the thing. Pignite broke a couple of ribs, then the thing bit him on the bicep. Snivy wasn't sure how he died quickly, maybe it was from the shock. Who knows? Death was the same no matter what the cause.

_Would somebody find us_, Snivy thought again, _find us in this tomb? No, they won't. I'm going to die here, even if a miracle comes along and save me I'm still going to die. The thing bit me, broke me, I would love to drink some happy juice to numb the pain, but I wish to have a clear conscious when I begin the Turn. Maybe I can power through it, maybe Undeath would be merciful on me to preserve __most of me. If I become one of those things, I don't want to be a mindless puppet acting on instinct. I don't want to suffer the way Emolga did, that brat did deserve to be chopped up by Tesla. But it was okay, she couldn't feel any pain, there was no pain at all. Soon there won't be any pain for me. I'll wait till we get out, someone would let us out and put us out of our misery. My friends, Scraggy, Pignite, would you like me to put you at ease?_

Silence answered Snivy, she stared at Pignite, then Scraggy, before turning to face the wall again_, You don't? Why? I'm still functioning, barely you want it fast? . . . Come on guys, you know we won't escape this place alive . . . Oh, I see. We'll wait, we would wait for someone to come. Even if we die, someone would open the door for us. We would wonder out, back out into the apocalyptic world. Feast on living flesh until our bodies drop from rot. Would you want that, guys? You want to become one of them? . . . Of course not, but- . . . Yeah . . . The group's out there? Friends that are still alive?_

Snivy smiled, _How reassuring . . . He turned? So did Pikachu? __How do you know? . . . You're in the afterlife? . . . I'll join you soon guys, just let me be for a moment._

The Grass Snake Pokémon closed her eyes and meditate, as she always does. The world slowly closed down around her. She couldn't hear herself, nor any other noise. The stage was set, now all she had to do was wait for the group to rescue them. It isn't over for her and her friends, it was only just beginning.

**. . .**

It finally hit Oshawott that this zombie of a trainer was really still Ash. While everyone went after him, he stayed, standing dumbstruck on the roof. All this time he feared the Undead appearance of his trainer, while deep down he was still here. Sort of. Everyone managed to get passed the smell and looks to see that, but why not him? Why not poor Oshawott? Cause he was a little scaredy cat who chickened out, that's why. He was so scared of being eaten that, why bother follow him? Should he follow the rest of the group, as always? Or just sit here and wait for everything to blow over?

Oshawott shook his head. Absolutely not! His friend's needed him, they needed Oshawott! He might be the last of Ash's Pokémon still around, besides Unfezant, doing who know's what. No, he wasn't going to sit here and wait. He needed to take action, like he always does when they needed him! Besides, the Undead were already on the roof.

He saw the zombies come, slowly over their Undead ladder. They crawled up to the roof like insects and got to their feet, locking on to the delicious morsel that lay before them. Oshawott needed to catch up to the others. A short cut. Was there a way?

Yes, there was. An air vent, not properly attached to the roof, was nearby. Oshawott rushed over to it and used all his strength to force the vent open. He could feel the Undead's eyes behind him as they slowly made their approach. Oshawott tried and tried, his little arms couldn't get the vent off. He quickly gave up, old brute strength won't due.

_Oh_, he thought. He took off his scallop and leaped up into the air, "Oshawott!"

His body glowed a bright blue as he used Aqua Jet, shooting straight into the air. He arched and aimed down at the air vent like a missile, Oshawott closed his eyes and braced for impact.

He crashed on top of the vent, it burst upon impact. It through him off balance and he went tumbling down the shaft, screaming along the way. The zombies swarmed the hole he created, plunging the air vent to darkness.

**. . .**

Luke Natas ran like the wind, dodging past the construction equipment and stacked tiles as his pursuers close in behind him. He could almost feel their breath drift on his skin. Damn, these buggers were determined. No way they would take him. The Boss needed him, he must! How long did he need to hold him off? There was no telling. As long as he kept them out of the room with the grand machine, the plan should be fine. How long would it take for reinforcements to come back him up? Would they come, or had the Boss decided to cut him loose. Arceus, hope not. There was nowhere to run, a polluted river had wrapped him in place, and a horde blocked out all the escape routes. He was pinned, but things weren't completely out of control.

He kept his Desert Eagle in hand, rushing around the obstacles while running from room to room. He looked back. Good, they were way's off. It might take a few minutes for Ash and his friend's to catch up, if he could-

"OSHAWOTT!"

Without warning, the ceiling collapsed and a Oshawott burst through. Before Natas could react, the Sea Otter Pokémon landed on his feet and shot a jet of water out of its mouth. It blasted Natas back with force, heavy force. He soared through the air until he hit a wall, a concrete wall.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much, his muscles took the brunt hard. Natas shakes off the water, pissed. He glared at the little Oshawott, who danced on his little feet, taunting him while waving his crappy scallop in the air like a victory flag. Just as Natas tried to move, he noticed he was stuck. He looked down and was horrified to find a piece of broken rebar, impaling him through his gut.

"Oh you little piece of sh*t!" he swore

"Oshawot, Oshawott, Oshawooott!" the Oshawott sang.

Natas raised his Desert Eagle and aimed at Oshawott. Just before he pulled the trigger, the gun exploded out of his hand. Luke yelped, noticing a hole formed through his palm. He looked up and saw Ash their, his .357 magnum raised like a Gunslinger.

_Should've taken his gun when I had the chance! _Natas thought.

Luke fought through the pain and forced himself free from the rebar. He didn't bother going after his Desert Eagle, no time. A couple of bullets whizzed by his ears as he bolted straight into a hallway.

**. . .**

_Damn, Oshawott_, Ash mused, _you almost killed him_.

The Sea Otter Pokémon looked proud of his achievement, he made a short victory dance. When Oshawott noticed him, he snapped into attention. He blushed, slightly embarrassed from being caught in his little moment.

"Ash," cried Misty behind him, "Wait!"

Ash ran passed Oshawott and scooped up Nata's gun, he stuffed it into his holster and continued on. Pikachu rushed up beside him, growling angrily, like he lost all sense of reason.

His friends quickly caught up to him just as Ash ran into the hall after Natas, "Wait up," Oak panted, "I'm not as young as I used to be!"

**. . .**

Delia watched her son roared like an actual zombie, it almost sounded like the rebellious child she used to care. Almost. A part of her wondered why Ash was so determined to get this guy. Natas helped him back at the Pokémon Center, saved his life on one occasion. But why suddenly hate him?

She remembered the double-barreled shotgun on Natas's back, then the hole in Ash's stomach. It dawned on her when she put the two to two together.

_He shot Ash_, she thought, _he shot my son!_

Just as the group reached the next hallway, Ash already had a head start, with Pikachu by his side. Oshawott just trailed behind, seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Down the other end of the hall, Natas spun around, aiming his shotgun.

"Get down!" cried Oak.

Everyone ducked, making them momentarily smaller. Natas's shotgun boomed, the heavy slug struck Ash in the chest. Delia watched in horror as the round blasted out his back. Black blood splattered everywhere. Getting on Ash's friends, on her . . .

. . . and he just snapped forward and kept going, enraged by the shot. Natas's face was priceless, he turned around and ran like a little girl.

"Oh my gosh," cried Iris, "did he just shot Ash!?"

"It should've killed him," cried Cilan, "it was a fatal shot, right through the lung! Why hadn't it killed him!?"

"Because he's already dead, genius," said Oak, "Where were you in the past 5 minutes!?"

Natas hit a button on the wall and kept running, a second later a steel door crashed down in the hall, barring the way. Ash slammed into it, he banged a fist at it and jumped back, growled at the wall. Pikachu hissed at it, also enraged. The steel door looked solid, probably designed to withstand a rocket launcher. There was no way to get it open.

That didn't stop Ash he looked around and saw a nearby wooden door. He charged the door with a sharp kick, the frame shattered as he blundered through, "What are you up to, Ash?" Brock asked.

Ash ignored him, he was looking around, doing quick thinking. There, an air vent. It was bolted to the side of the wall, large enough for a person to crawl through. Ash grabbed the sides of the vent and yanked it off in a single go, he tossed the vent aside and crawled in. Pikachu leaped up and crawled after him, the two were gone in an instant.

"Whoa," said Misty, "those muscles!"

Cilan looked at the air vent. The bolt heads were still there, they were broken, snapped off from the brute force. Delia could see Ash's hand prints in the metal, it took serious strength to get it off.

"Come on guys," said Oak, "let's follow him, see where the vent leads!"

"It's going to be a tight squeeze!" exclaimed Brock.

**. . .**

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," Natas grunted as he grabbed his side, "First they impaled me, then they shot my hand. That door should keep them at bay, for now."

Eventually they would get through, Natas needed to prepare. He ran into a nearby bathroom and ripped the first aid kit off the wall. He wrapped his side with gauze, then his hand. Natas kicked the first aid kit back under the counter and whipped out his double-barreled shotgun. It was the only weapon he had left, other than the pistols in his backpack. He got a slug right into Ash, but he just shrugged it off and kept going. Impossible. Slugs stop zombies cold, even if it wasn't a headshot. All it did was piss him off, not what Natas needed right now.

Luke jogged back into the hall, adrenaline fought against the pain in his side. He powered through it, he had taken worse wounds before. Though no one had shot him in the hand up to this point. He can't use the 9mm's, his right hand was out of the fight. The shotgun would have to do, he had enough shells for a final stand.

He made his way back into the security room and opened the gun cabinet. Luke then took off his backpack, removed all the .16-gauge shotgun shells, then stuck the backpack into the cabinet. He won't be needing it, no point in carrying it around if there was no place to go. What a gamble, especially his only weapons were a shotgun and a combat knife. Natas flipped the shotgun open and emptied the used shells, then stuck fresh ones in. He snapped it back in place and checked the sights, "All or nothing." he told himself.

Natas then took all the shotgun shells he had. Buc-shot, bird-shot, and rifled slugs were stuffed into his pockets. There weren't much slugs left, but he had plenty of buckshot. A unique thing about shotguns was that they tend to hit where you aim most of the time, despite the heavy kick they tend to give out. Natas know he won't miss once he got the high-ground, assuming he could score a headshot. Just a single headshot through Ash's skull would be the end of him, but the Boss needed him "alive." Solution: Keep Ash busy.

So Natas would have to fight him. No problem, Luke had all the cards and know the way around the facility. With luck, Team Rocket would arrive in a few hours, taking the heavy load off his shoulders, _Just hang in long enough_, Natas thought, _and they would come. They _will _come_.

**. . .**

_He's coming, Pignite? . . . Oh, he's got him too. What about the others? . . . Is there anything we could do? . . . Don't talk like that to me, I've been helping you ever since I joined the team. If I say we get out, we'll get out. Ash will save us, I know he will. Here, I'll etch a message on the door. When Ash comes passing by, he would realize what had happen and will free us . . . I don't care if the others can't see it. __If Ash could see it, then we're in the clear_.

**. . .**

The air vent suddenly gave way, unable to take his weight any longer. Ash crashed into the next room like a stone. He hanged onto Pikachu, protecting him from most of the crash. Dust kicked up in the air, normally it would cloud his vision but Ash saw through it with his night-vision. The green ghostly sparkles swirled around, disturbed from their slumber.

"Ash," Delia called out, "Are you alright?"

Ash let out a frustrated grunt, then crawled out of the vent. He emerged in an area still under construction, left forever unfinished. Whatever it was supposed to be, it must be the cafeteria. He could see what could be serving booths over at their sides, the stainless steel covered in bubble wrap and their glass windows covered in wax paper, protecting them under the harsh conditions of building. Now all they do was protect the booths from decay, as the building crumbles around them. Ash sniffed the air, picking up Natas's scent. He knew where to go.

As he tried to walk towards the nearby double-doors, Ash noticed his legs were stiffening up. He limped and staggered, barely even making a steady jog anymore. It was getting more difficult to coordinate his arms and legs, Ash realized what it was. Rigor mortis was trying to take firm hold over his body. With his immune system no longer functioning, bacteria and other diseases, normally fought off and repelled, were let into his system. The consequences were already apparent. Whatever brought Ash back to life could only keep them out for so long. It wouldn't be long till he couldn't move at all, his muscles too broken down and rotted to flex any longer.

_And then my mind goes after that_. Ash thought.

There wasn't anything he could do about it. Well, no point in living in this world anyway. His dreams were gone, forever unaccomplished. What he could do was save what was left, his friends, his remaining Pokémon. If he could save them and defeat Luke Natas, his job would be done. He wondered what was going on in Pikachu's own head. Probably thinking of the same thing, or something similar. The look in his green eyes showed it. Whatever it was, the Mouse Pokémon can keep it to himself. Ash doesn't need to know his buddy's thoughts.

He pushed open the double doors and found another hallway. Natas passed through here, his scent was still fresh. He also can smell his blood. Ash looked down and noticed a trail of splattered blood, recently dumped. Pikachu went up to some of the red circles, sniffed it, then proceed to lick it. Ash nudged Pikachu in the butt, the Undead Mouse Pokémon didn't notice, probably couldn't feel it. Ash let out a whistle that pierced his ears, Pikachu looked up at him, giving him that _What? _Look. Ash just stared down at him, Pikachu groaned, he got the message.

"Ash," Brock called out, "Where are you?"

Oshawott came running out into the hallway, all hyped up with rage. Had Ash was still fully alive, he would feel the same thing. Strange, revenge and anger seemed similar, feel similar. Yet their different. The Sea Otter Pokémon started jumping up and down, more angry than he had ever been. That wasn't good, not for a water-type. They shouldn't be that angry. Ash placed his hand on Oshawott's head and held him down, he froze. He looked up at his trainer, panting hard. Ash kept a calm face as he slowly pulled his hand away. Oshawott shook his head, looking down in shame. Poor thing, he didn't know what he was thinking. Ash couldn't blame him.

**. . .**

"I'll be damned," Natas thought, "This is big enough to move around."

Assuming that he needed to move around. He would be on a metal balcony, at least 10 meters high, Natas had gathered all the shotgun shells he could find and hoard them on the balcony. The balcony was built to serve as a guard station. Fitted with Kevlar, it would provide superior protection if he needed to dive for cover. Natas pulled up the retractable ladder and sat it aside, making sure that Ash or any of his friends would come up to fight him personally.

He looked out out into the massive storage room. The place took up a good chunk of the facility. Crates and boxes were stacked in square formations, making it look like the grid of a calender. They were packed with electronic equipment: Laser printers, desktop computers, stuff that would be used by white-collar workers when the facility goes online. Of course, that day would never come. Now they were useless, probably going to serve the group as cover once Natas start taking potshots at him. The double-barreled shotgun can stretch a good distance, assuming he could hit anyone that far. Natas checked the ammo, hm, maybe he should put in slugs. He took out the buck-shots and inserted some slug rounds, then snapped it closed.

_They would come right through that door right there_, Natas thought, staring at the way he came, _and when they do, they would stumble into the trap I set up. Assuming Ash is making the charge, he would head in first and I will cut everybody off with a single switch, _he chuckled at the thought, _A classic video-game plot, I love it_.

Natas, of course, wouldn't be alone. There was another reason why he pulled the ladder up, the muffled moaning coming through the steel walls says otherwise.

"Anytime now, Ketchum." Natas thought aloud, clicking the hammer's back.

**. . .**

The scent trail was getting stronger, Ash pushed forward. Pikachu and Oshawott kept a steady pace by him, everyone else struggled to keep up. They called Ash's name for probably the hundreth million time, yet he ignored them. Their calls more like gibberish in the background. He made several turns down the hallway, suddenly there was bright light at the end. It was like the doorway to Tranquility had opened up. Natas wasn't far now, he was just up ahead. Trapped, with no way out. It would be _there_ where he would make his final stand, and it would be all over.

Ash let out a war cry, or something that sounded like one. Pikachu followed up with one of his own, his sounded just as alien as his trainer's. Oshawott, having no idea what the two were doing, let out an exaggerated angry yell. It was hilarious, yet Ash didn't found it funny. He pretended to chuckle, this time this fake laugh sounded like the real thing. It was enough to boost Oshawott's morale.

**. . .**

Natas heard the distinctive zombie roar, he rest the barrel of his shotgun on the rail while hovering a hand over a red button, "Come on," Natas said to himself, "Come on in, boy, I got a present for you."

There he was, the Undead trainer with the black raven hair ran into the storage room. His Undead Pikachu and Living Oshawott closed by, they stopped and looked around the storage room. Figuring out where he was probably.

Before they found him, Natas slapped the red button.

**. . .**

Loud electronic buzzing burst past Ash's ears, he spun around and gasped in disbelief. A force field had barred the way he came. It had a pink tint to the edges while mostly transparent around the middle, it gave off electrical pulses in a steady low beat. His friends on the other side screeched to a halt and tried to bang on the force field, "You gotta be kidding me," grumbled Oak, "Of course he had to put up a force field!"

"We can't get through!" Misty cried.

"We're trapped!" cried Iris.

"Axew!" screamed Axew.

Ash took out his crowbar and whacked the force field as hard as he can, the force field sounded like heavy plastic when he hit it. The kinetic energy of the crowbar shot back at Ash, stunning him momentary. He took a step back and cleared his head. No good, nothing wasn't getting through that force field.

"Oshawott, Oshawott, Oshawott!" cried Oshawott as he bashed the force field with his tiny fist.

Pansage crawled up to him and pressed a hand against the force field, "Pan Pan." the Grass Monkey Pokémon shook his head.

"Osha." muttered Oshawott.

Mark's Pokémon looked at each other and nod. Their bodies suddenly pulsed with bright yellow electricity, the group jumped out of their way as their combined Thunderbolt struck the force field in a spectacular light show. Ironically, instead of destroying the force field, it deflected the Thunderbolt back at them. Mark's Emolga, Pikachu, Plusle, and Minun dodged their own Thunderbolt as it pulsed over their heads and ground into the floor 10 meters back.

They just looked at the others and shrugged, it was the best they could do.

"I was hoping that would work," stumped Cilan, "It must be the same polarity as their Thundershock."

"Plusle and Minun have different polarity," said Iris, "It couldn't be that."

"Then what?"

No one answered, the group turned back at Ash. He stared back at them through the force field, his expression blank as always.

"Oshawott!" cried the Sea Otter Pokémon, pointing across the massive room.

**. . .**

Damn, the little dumbf*ck pointed him out. Natas's ears steamed. For the past month, he had to put up with this pipsqueak, who looked more like a midget clown than a Pokémon. Earlier, the Oshawott impaled him after dropping by, now he proceeded to taunt him further. No, he could put up with him no longer. Natas aimed the shotgun and held it steady.

"Shut up, you little piece of sh*t!"

**. . .**

The loud boom echoed across the storage room with sheer force. Ash watched in horror as a slug punched itself into Oshawott's belly. His scallop took part of the impact and exploded into a thousand pieces. The scallop slowed the slug round enough to cause more damage, as it blew out his back the slug smashed Oshawott into the wall before dropping him on his rear. Blood and scallop fragments flied everywhere in a gory fireworks star puff, splattering all over Ash and Pikachu, as well as the force field.

Ash stood there for a moment, paralyzed with shock and déjà vu. No. It happened to Pikachu, now it happened to poor Oshawott! The last feeling he ever felt as a living being came back with vengence. He quickly rushed to Oshawott and dropped to his knees, then picked up the bloody Pokémon.

Oshawott hissed his last breath and died in his trainer's arms. The poor thing didn't cry, not even a whimper. He just simply past out from the sudden lost of blood pressure and died. There was nothing Ash could do, he just laid him down and stroke the Sea Otter Pokémon's head. Pikachu sat nearby, muttering what sounded like sobs. He was probably feeling grief as well, and a lot of it.

"Natas shot Oshawott!" cried Iris.

"AXEW!" Axew screamed as loud as he can, heavy tears flowed like rivers down his cheeks upon seeing the sudden death of a close friend.

"PANSAGE!" cried Pansage, Mark's Emolga crawled up to the Grass Monkey Pokémon and hugged him. Pansage cried on her shoulder as she stroke the back of his head, doing her best to cheer him up.

"You figured it out, Ketchum," Natas boomed across the room, "You figured out what world you're in now!?"

Ash spun around, grief quickly changing to rage, "You're in an Undead Nightmare," Luke Natas reminded him, "Had we all told you and your friends this simple fact!? You think Iris's Emolga's death was an accident? You think Dawn, May, and Max's deaths were also accidental? Think again, boy. The world you once lived in is long gone, now its under the total control of Team Rocket!"

Everybody's jaw dropped in shock.

"Giovanni's dead, he and that dumbass trio aren't involve. Me and the new Boss had planned this for months, working on to reanimate the dead for scientific purposes. We didn't know what we were getting into, we weren't so sure what we were going to create. Then we discovered a special wavelength in the light spectrum, so tiny that no instrument could detect it, yet so powerful that it makes the atomic bomb look like a firecracker. There's a special radio transmitter in this very facility, creating all the zombies in the world. It turns people, brings them back. It's the very machine that's keeping you and your little mutant rat alive!

"You don't think I _know _how you feel!? I had to put my own Pikachu down before I even showed up walking into that Pokémon Center to shake your hand. I went back to my house to dig up a special cache in my backyard. My Pikachu came out of the ground in a great blast of lightning, I hesitated to shoot the meat-covered skeleton of my Pikachu! _Hesitated! _It took me a while for me to have the courage to shoot his brains out! It ain't like all evil-doers don't feel human!"

The tone of Natas's voice told Ash he was lying, but it wasn't no bluff. He did say he worried about his Pikachu coming back as one of those things, it would be much worse than Ash's Pikachu. He's been dead for a few hours, Natas's Pikachu was dead for 20 years. He had seen what rot could do to corpses during that time, wishing he didn't know it at all. It was a psychological attact on Natas's part. Ash knew better. He was under Luke's skin, meaning he had few cards to play.

Speaking of cards.

A loud buzz echoed out in the storage room, then a latch clicked, followed up with doors opening up. The familiar sounds of moaning Undead were loud and clear. Ash wondered if he should worry about them. Probably. The Undead want his soul more than his blood. Ash scooped up Oshawott's body, then climbed up one of the crates. He placed him up high as he could go, that way the Undead won't get to him. He doesn't have to worry about Natas shooting him again, he doesn't need to. It was Ash he want.

Ash climbed back down and drew his .357 magnum, "Be careful, Ash," said Delia, "Get Natas, but _please _try not to eat him. That's not good manners."

_Very funny, Mom_. Ash groaned.

**. . .**

Natas was impressed, as soon as he opened the garage doors the Undead started roaming out in search for prey. Most of the zombies were dressed in construction clothes, hardhats and all. Those yellow hardhats would be a lifesavor for them, they were designed with a tough polimor of plastic with Kevlar padding, designed to take accidental abuse. The hardhats weren't only shock proof, but also bullet-resistant. Natas wasn't sure what rounds they could withstand, but he was sure that they can stop hollow-points. Assuming Ash was using them for his .357, which was notorious for its stopping power.

**. . .**

The storage room was confusing as it was massive, crates and boxes towered over Ash, the slightest nudge might knock them over. He felt puny in this maze of boxes, but at least it wasn't intended as a maze. The boxes were lined up in square formations, not in rows, allowing Ash to move through the cardboard forest with speed. He had to find a way to get up to Natas's platform, but the ladder was removed. There was no obvious way up.

A zombie came around the corner, he wore a bright yellow hardhat with carpenter clothes. Ash realized he was one of the construction workers who were building the facility. His eyes were sunken, he was somehow trapped her in the initial outbreak, dying from dehydration.

And he wasn't the only one.

Several more corpses started wondering into view, their red eyes met Ash's green ones. They paused for a second, wondering if he was prey. Half of them decided to walk over to him, the other half wondered off. Ash raised his magnum and aimed at the closest zombie, then squeezed off the round. The shot plowed into the hardhat, snapping the zombie's head back. Ash was stunned, the hardhat proved reliable. Not only did it stopped the round, but it shattered upon impact, leaving nothing but a small gash. The zombie whipped his head forward and continued his steady advance, arms stretched out and jaw dropped. Ash fired again, this time he got the corpse in the red eye and the zombie dropped.

The other zombies didn't seem to mind, they just kept on their steady advance. Ash realized the trick. As long as he doesn't make sudden movements, he wouldn't aggro them. He held his breath and took careful aim, then put a bullet in each zombie's skull until he ran out of ammo. Once the zombies were dispatched, Ash reloaded the magnum, then turned around.

Another zombie grabbed a hold of him, but Ash grabbed back. The zombie wasn't gnashing its jaw, not trying to bite him. This further backed up Ash theory that they want his soul more than his blood, they were just trying to law at him with their hands. Trying to hit him. As Ash wrestled with the zombie, his strength cancelled out the zombie's own. They were locked into position, equally matched. This wasn't going anywhere, so Ash shift the .357's barrel up to the zombie's chin and fired. The round blew clean through the skull, blowing the zombie's hardhat off his head in a geyser of black blood. The zombie loosened its grip and fell backwards, the bloody hardhat fell next, clattering to the side. Pikachu walked up to it and sniffed it, then looked up at Ash.

Ash jogged down the rows, keeping a lookout for more zombies as Pikachu followed behind him. Natas's shotgun boomed and a hole burst open in a nearby box, Ash spun around and fired sporatic shots back at him. Natas ducked as the rounds soared over his head. Ash got behind cover, checked for zombies. There they were, a couple of them. Ash shot them both and reloaded fresh bullets into the magnum.

_Where are all the zombies coming from? _Ash asked himself.

He ran to the edge of the storage room, and saw a crowd of zombies pouring through a garage door. Ash didn't have enough bullets to take them all on, so he doubled-back and searched for another place to hold ground. Natas fired more shots at him, each just a hair's length from him. Ash kept his head low, firing back a few rounds, then changed position as the zombies started to swarm him. If he was alive, he would've been cowering in a corner, hugging his Pikachu while the world threatened to close in on him. But Ash kept his nerve, determined to take down Natas. Literally down to the floor, and obviously shooting at him would waste his bullets since Natas's little platform was armored.

But there was something he could do. If Natas decides to take down the force field, his friends would be lunch. Those garage doors must be closed, however they were automatic. But there was a way to disable them, near the electric motor of the doors there was a red-orange string, hanging off a lever. If Ash could pull that lever, the garage door would close, preventing more zombies coming through that access point. Ash wasn't sure what other tricks Natas had up his sleeve, but he was sure that he had none left.

Ash made his way towards the back of the storage room, then snaked across the wall towards one of the garage doors. Just a few zombies were coming through it now, not as much as before. Ash saw the manual release, right next to the garage door. He carefully strolled up, walking slow with no sudden movements. The zombie's eyes simply rolled over him, paying no attention at his human intuition. Before Ash pulled the manual release, he took a quick peak through the garage door. He saw a horde of Undead, walking around in the darkness. Their red eyes bobbed up and down as they walked aimlessly in circles, slightly confused and disoriented in trying to find fresh prey. Another of Natas's shots rang out, a hole blew through the garage door. It got the Undead's attention, the zombies turned towards the garage door.

_Oh no you don't_. Ash thought.

He yanked the emergency release hard, the garage door detached from the motor and gravity pulled it down. It slammed with a heavy thud that vibrated through the floor, signaling it was closed. To be sure Natas won't open it again electronically, Ash slid the garage door's latches into its rails, locking it.

_One down_, Ash thought, _a gazillion to go_.

**. . .**

Rather going after him directly, Ash started closing the garage doors to prevent more zombies from coming in. That wasn't totally unexpected, Natas knew that the zombies were more of a nuisance than a threat. To Ash at least. If he cleared out all the zombies, Ash won't have any trouble confronting Natas directly.

_Where are those reinforcements? _Natas asked himself, he held up his shotgun and fired a couple of more rounds at Ash.

**. . .**

Nobody was paying attention when Oshawott started to stir. First his arms and legs twitch, then he let out a soft moan. The moan was drowned out from the moans of the Undead, nobody heard or saw him come back.

The reddish hole in Oshawott's belly began oozing, but it wasn't blood. Sickly green slime oozed out both the entrance and exit wounds, spilling out in a pool around Oshawott. Some slime oozed out his open mouth, anus, and nose, within seconds it was bleeding out like a river. The Sea Otter Pokémon's body's chemistry changed from the moment of death. The gastrointestinal system was hijacks, his gallbladder and intestines began producing the putrid bile. The bile had ruptured through internal organs and spilled out into the abdominal cavity, seeking freedom.

Then Oshawott's eyes open.

**. . .**

"Can you see him?" Iris asked.

"No," said Brock, "I can't see him anywhere!"

"Axew, Axew!" Axew cried.

Ash was out of sight for at least 20 minutes, all the group saw were wondering zombies who seemingly showed up out of nowhere. Just a force field stood between them and the Undead. Luckily the zombies didn't notice them, they just wondered by after brief glances.

"Can the zombies see us through the force field?" Misty asked.

"I don't know," said Professor Oak, "Ash saw us, even heard us. Maybe something else was going on."

More gunshots rang out in the storage room. The group watched as Natas fired at something, then something fired back at him. He ducked for a few seconds before peaking over another part of the platform. It was almost like Natas and Ash were playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, with the Undead being a hazard. So far they had paid no attention to them, the group wondered if they were somehow forgotten.

"What is Ash doing?" Delia asked.

Another metal thud sounded, the floor twitched from the radiating echo. More gunshots. Then another metal thud, "Whatever Ash's doing," Professor Oak says as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, "He must be solving some sort of puzzle?"

"A puzzle?" Everyone asked.

"Those zombies are a problem, probably preventing Ash from getting to Natas. Maybe he was sealing doors so the zombies wouldn't get through."

"Make sense," said Cilan, "Every time I heard a loud clang, less zombies show up in the picture."

"I hope Ash knows what he's doing." said Delia.

The group stood in a moment of silence, watching the Undead come in and out of view as the battle raged on. The Pokémon huddled together, holding onto whatever hope they had left as death rang around them. As every minute passed, it seemed more unlikely that the group could escape the facility. They foolishly followed Luke Natas into a trap, had they known he was Team Rocket they would had done things differently. Maybe Ash, Pikachu, Mark, and Oshawott would still be alive. Hard to believe that 3 days ago, Natas saved Ash from getting jumped by a zombie.

Well, time flies when the world comes down around your ears.

"Hey guys," Iris broke the silence, "Where's Oshawott's body?"

The group turned to the box tower where Ash left Oshawott, there was nothing on it but blood and bile . . .

Uh oh.

**. . .**

Each time Ash closes a door, the zombies began replenishing less and less. It made it easier on him since he was running out of .357 rounds. With the zombie horde under control, Ash turned his attention back at Natas. He poked his head up to see what was going on, then dropped down again. Ash got behind cover and looked at Pikachu. The Undead Mouse Pokémon had been doing almost nothing for most of the time, just following Ash around while trying not to get in his way. He stared up at his trainer, blinking wordlessly as he await a command.

_Can Pikachu still do electric moves? _Ash thought to himself.

He hadn't seen Pikachu done any electric attacks since his Turn, either Pikachu couldn't do them anymore or he just hadn't attempted them. Ash crouched down, looked Pikachu in the eyes, then poked the Mouse Pokémon's red cheeks with his index fingers. He let out a questioning grunt as he gestured an explosion with his hands.

Pikachu stood up on his hind legs, then pushed. Bright yellow sparks popped out of his cheeks, like they always does. Ash was amazed. Though Pikachu's electricity was slightly unstable, Pikachu can spark nonetheless. Ash stood up and pointed at the platform, then let out a small roar. Pikachu growled and leaped up on the crates, his body lit up like a sparkler.

"RAAWWRR!" he growled.

A sporadic Thunderbolt arched through the air, flashing uncontrollably towards the platform. Natas stood up, ready to fire his shotgun again when the Thunderbolt hit him. He screamed as pulses of electricity ripped through his body, seeking feverishly for the ground. Natas clamped tight to his shotgun as he stumbled back, his back hit the retractable ladder. It came down like a spike, crashing into the ground with a thump. The electricity flowed down the ladder and into the ground within a fraction of a second.

"You bastard," Natas swore at the top of his lungs, "You motherf*cking, bastard!"

Pikachu came down and hi-fived Ash, he had been waiting for a while to do that.

**. . .**

"Whoa," cried Misty, "Did you see that!?"

"Look's like Pikachu can still cast thunderbolts." said Cilan.

"Pan Pan." Pansage awed.

**. . .**

Natas shook it off. Wow, he'd forgotten what a Thunderbolt felt like. He crawled back towards the edge of the platform and grabbed the rail. His ears steamed rage. How dare a little rotting pipsqueak shocked him with a Thunderbolt! He should had shot him in the head when he had the chance. Well, he was Undead, which was close enough.

He picked up the shotgun and checked the ammo, fully loaded and ready to fire, "No one escapes alive," Natas roared at Ash, "No one! You will only leave this f*cking island in an aluminum casket! To the Netherworld you will go!"

Natas pulled himself up, the pickling sensation on his skin was subsiding. He looked around the storage room for any pairs of green eyes. All he saw were red ones. Ash and Pikachu were nowhere to be found.

Where could they be hiding? Were they underneath him? Natas peaked over the edge. Nope, not down there. Ash was probably reloading, he would pop out. Natas counted to 10 and waited. Low and behold, Ash poked his head over some boxes with his .357 magnum out and ready.

"There you are." Natas whispered to himself.

Without warning, cold putrid slime washed over his back. Natas almost threw up, the smell was so vile that it just about knocked him out. He raised up his hand, it was covered with green slime.

No wait, not any ordinary slime.

"Bile?" Natas asked himself.

It was the last word he blurted out, a creature leaped on his back without warning. Before Natas could fight back, the thing sank its teeth into his neck. Natas screamed as he struggled to pull the thing off. His double-barreled shotgun dropped to the floor below, blood sprayed everywhere. Natas accidentally stepped on some bile and he slipped over the rail, then plummet to the concrete floor below.

That was how Natas discovered Death was blacker than night, as it swarmed him he heard a loud ringing from the concussion of the fall. The ringing slowly softened its song, and all he heard was silence.

**TO BE CONTINUED. . .**


	53. Ch 53: Undead Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Chapter LIII_

_Undead Nightmare_

Ash ran around the boxes, shooting any zombie in his path. Seeing Natas fall from his platform took him by complete surprise, all Ash saw was a jet of bile and a falling body. He had to see what else went down with him. Pikachu took lead, but kept within sight. They both turned around the corner and saw the mess. Blood and bile sprayed out in a spray when Natas hit the floor, he lied face down, motionless. The fall killed him instantly. What was crawling on his corpse was a bloated slime-covered Oshawott, eating the flesh out of Natas's neck. Ash raised his gun and pulled the hammer back.

He let out a brief ear-piercing whistle.

Oshawott looked up, his eyes blazing bright green. He blinked as he stared down the barrel of his trainer's gun. The Sea Otter Pokémon didn't flinch, nor cried, he just sat there with a blank emotionless stare devoid of all life.

Ash gestured Oshawott to move aside, he nodded and stood up. Suddenly Oshawott coughed, spewing out bile as he stepped aside. He pressed on his belly, a gush of bile belched out of his gunshot wound, spilling onto the floor. Ash sighed, the poor thing had mutated into a Boomer. He must be a ticking time bomb or something. Hopefully he won't be that fragile.

The Undead trainer looked down at Natas's body. He was dead, but it wouldn't be long before he turn. It wasn't over yet. Ash aimed the .357 magnum at Natas's head and squeezed off a round, the back of his skull exploded as the round shredded into his brain. Red blood shot back at Ash, then settled. He crouched down and checked his handy work. Natas's brain was pulverize, he wouldn't be coming back any time soon.

_It is finished_. Ash thought as he holstered his gun.

**. . .**

The force field went down as soon as they heard the gunshot. The group held their breath, there was nothing but silence. No zombies were moaning, nobody was screaming. The storage room was dead with activity.

"What just happened?" Cilan broke the silence, "First I saw Natas fell, then everything seemed to stop."

"Pansage." Pansage agreed.

"We better go check it out." said Professor Oak.

**. . .**

The prize for killing Natas was more than satisfaction, his revenge was answered. But revenge doesn't solve problems, they never do. He was still Undead, and now poor Oshawott had turned. At least they still had their minds, their souls, something they could use to rationalize. The added bonus to the prize was new firepower, a .45 Desert Eagle and the double-barreled shotgun. Ironic, Ash had taken mere glances at the weapons while around Natas. He had used it when that crazy cannibal tried to blow himself up, used it against the bandits, used it against the Undead. Ash pulled it out and examined it. It was like any other automatic pistol. The noticeable difference that it was bulkier, too bad Ash could feel that bulk. He ejected the magazine and checked the rounds, regular rounds. That was it.

Ash opened up Natas backpack and peaked inside, boxes of .16 gauge shotgun shells spilled out as soon as he pulled back the zipper. That was all Natas had on his person, shotgun shells. Where were his .45 rounds? He must had stashed them somewhere. Obviously not up on that platform, no, it was _somewhere _else. Ash opened up several breast and pants pouches and stuffed them with the shotgun shells. Buckshot and bird-shot on the left side of his body, rifled slugs on his right. Yes, he could remember that. Once all his pockets were filled to the brim, Ash dumped the rest of the shells into his backpack and tossed Natas's aside.

He picked up the double-barrel Natas dropped. He was amazed, it didn't break when it hit the concrete floor. It must be built to last. Ash looked for the lever that opens up the barrel, then checked the ammo. Loaded. He pulled out the shells and dried fired it, trigger action still worked. The hammers it the primer as they should. Ash reloaded the gun and tried to lever the barrel shut just like what the guys do in the movies where they snap the barrel close with the flick of a wrist. Nope, that doesn't work. Ash groaned and closed the barrel the proper way, now he wondered how well it fires.

His friends came around the corner, Ash just stood there holding the shotgun in his hands. Pikachu climbed up his shoulder as Oshawott scooted beside him. Fresh bile poured out of the Sea Otter Pokémon's wounds in a never-ending stream. Pansage and Axew covered their eyes, they'd seen enough.

"What happened?" Delia asked.

Ash pointed at Natas's corpse.

"Holy," muttered Misty, she pinched her nose and gasped, "that smell's so bad!"

"He died from the fall," said Professor Oak, "He had no chance of making it."

The group paused into an eerie silence, then Cilan broke it, "Wow do we get outta here?" Cilan asked.

"There's gotta be an exit sign pointing the way out somewhere," said the professor, "If we find that, we might get outta here."

Without warning the alarm went off, red flashing lights started spinning as a few ceiling lights went out. The ground tremor slightly as the building shivered to its frames, "What is that!?" cried Iris.

"Axew!?" Axew squealed.

_"__Self-destruct sequence initiated," _an electronic voice say, echoing throughout the storage room, _"ETA 30 minutes. All personnel must immediately evacuate the building."_

_Well that was kind of predictable_. Ash shrugged.

"You gotta be kidding me." Cilan gasped.

"Pansage!" Pansage cried.

"We gotta get out, NOW!" cried Brock.

Ash looked around, he saw another hallway in the back. He started running for it, Oshawott quickly tailed behind him, leaving a trail of bile in his path.

"That way!" cried Professor Oak.

The group followed Ash into the hall, before they could catch up the ground shook with sheer force. Ash heard his friends call his name, when he spun around he saw the ceiling giving way. It collapsed between him and his friends, trapping them. Ash ran towards the rubble and tried to pick it apart. When he grabbed a piece of rebar, more debris fell. He had to back off, there was no way he could dig through the rubble without getting buried.

"There's no way through!" cried Iris.

"AX!" the Tusk Pokémon squealed.

"We'll find another way out, Ash," said Delia, "Just keep going, we'll catch up!"

Ash nodded. Okay then, he'll make it out alone. He raised his shotgun and continued on, trying to cover as much ground as he can.

**. . .**

_"He's coming? . . . Okay, sit tight. We'll be freed soon."_

**. . .**

The group head back the way they came, then look for an exit sign. They found one pointing up a stairwell, they started up it. As they climbed the stairs, small explosions rocked the staircase. Bits of debris and dust started rained from the ceiling with each tremor. Whatever was happening, it was going to happen more sooner than 30 minutes.

"Keep going," cried Professor Oak, "Don't let up now!"

"Are we heading back to the roof?" Misty asked.

"I don't know," said Delia, "We should find a back exit, the zombies might be still swarming the courtyard."

When the group reached the top of the stairs, they found another hallway. Just as they were running down the hall, the floor started cracking.

"Watch out!" cried Professor Oak.

The floor gave way around Delia, she screamed as she fell right in.

"Mrs. Ketchum!" cried Brock.

Just when Delia thought she was falling to her death, someone grabbed one of her arms and caught her. When she looked up to see who caught her, her blood froze.

"Mark?" she asked.

Mark's eyes were bright green and his skin was pale and dry. His hand was ice-cold, gripped firmly around hers. She was speechless as he hoisted her back up.

The group just stood there, jaws dropped. Mark's Pokémon in particular were frozen in place, terrified if whoever saved Ash's mom was still the trainer they knew.

"He's Undead too!" Misty broke the awkward silence.

"And his eyes are just like Ash's." said Cilan.

"Pan." muttered Pansage.

Mark held up his crossbow and shrugged, it was clear he couldn't speak either. He doesn't need to, the group got the message.

"Thank you, Mark," said Delia, "My son's somewhere in the warehouse, but we can't worry about him. This place is going to blow, can you show us the way you came through?"

Mark nodded, then gestured the group to follow him.

**. . .**

_"__You mean to tell me this place is going to kaboom? . . . Ash's on it? . . . Okay, see if we can try to help him. Maybe there's something we can do."_

**. . .**

Ash ran down the hall, then walked down a flight of stairs. The muffled moans of Undead sound all around him in a never ending barrage of symphony. He hadn't seen any Undead wondering around in the hallways yet, but he bet they were hiding. Heck, once they hear a survivor they give away their hideaway by moaning. Maybe the Undead couldn't get out, trapped behind doors because they forgotten how to turn a simple knob. Bummer, but good news for Ash. He doesn't have to deal with them.

As Ash ran down the hall, he heard a loud metallic drone. It slowly gained volume from each step he took.

_What is that? _Ash thought to himself.

The humming sounded like it was coming from up ahead. Ash kept the double-barrel at hand, something ominous was nearby.

When he reached the end of the hall, he screeched to a halt. His jaw dropped, his barely functioning brain struggled in vain to comprehend what he was seeing.

A giant mass of brass pipes and pressure tanks towered over him, the pipes surrounded a network of fiber-optic wires and lights, pulsing with blue energy. Pikachu and Oshawott awed in amazement, it had been a while since they all seen a machine this big. Ash approached the control panel and touched it, he imagined what it would felt like. He stuck his finger underneath the panel's switch and pulled the panel open.

He found the new Team Rocket logo painted on the back of the panel door.

Something clicked in Ash's head. Natas said he was a member of Team Rocket, which was why he came to this warehouse complex in the first place. This logo, this machine . . . What does this all mean?

Ash thought for a moment, he thought hard . . .

_T__his had to be the radio transmitter Natas was talking about_, Ash thought, _Destroying it would rid the world of the Undead, but would kill me, Pikachu, and Oshawott as well . . ._

Ash turned to Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon gave him a blank emotionless expression. The bandage covering his shotgun wound had turned black from absorbing dead blood. He then turned to Oshawott, the Undead Sea Otter Pokémon looked up at him with doey green eyes, as he always do. Yet the eyes were full of death, whatever joy and happiness they once saw were long gone, forever buried in the past. Ash turned back to the control panel, the red main switched glistened under the dying florescent lights.

He sighed, _I'm dead, Pikachu's dead, Oshawott's dead. We're all finished. I'm not going to have our consciousness see ourselves rot!_

Ash grabbed the red switch and flipped it down.

The rate of explosions rapidly increased. As the machine powered down, more alarms went off. The ceiling lights started flickering madly, some popped from the surge. The ground shook so hard, the concrete cracked. Ash gripped his head and drop to his knees, _The noise! The noise! It's so loud!_

Pikachu and Oshawott screamed as they gripped their ears, it was like a jet engine was screaming over their heads. But it wasn't coming from their ears, no, it was coming from inside their minds.

_I feel weak_, Ash thought, _I'm loosing it, I gotta get outta here!_

He tried to stand back up but his legs struggled to coordinate. Ash tumbled and fell, he grabbed a hold of one of the pipes to hoist himself up. He heard the cricking of burning skin along with the smell of burning flesh. Ash looked at his hand, the pipe was so hot that it burned through his glove, frying his palm.

_I can't feel it, I can't feel it!_

Ash frantically stood back up on his feet and scooped up the shotgun, Pikachu and Oshawott quickly got their wits together and regrouped with him. The noise continued to blare out with excruciating force, so loud that it would deafen a grown man.

_Stop, stop!_

Ash aimed the double-barreled shotgun at the control panel and pumped two buckshots into its face.

**. . .**

_"Get that door open, Pignite! Get it open!"_

**. . .**

Blue sparks sprouted out of the control panel, struggling to ground themselves. The noise had stopped, but the pain was still there. Ash panted, staring at the destruction he caused. He shook his head and let out a mournful groan, _Why am I here_, he asked himself, _Why am I still here!?_

As if on cue, a door opened. Ash snapped out of his delirium and investigated, _What in the world_, he asked himself, _Did that door just opened up by itself?_

It did, apparently. He peaked through the door and saw a stairwell, a red exit sign pointing up was displayed on the back wall. Was it the way out?

_Had to be_, Ash thought, _Had to be the way out_.

As Ash reloaded the shotgun, he heard a loud moan. He turned, a zombie was coming out from the way he came. It was dressed in a tattered Team Rocket grunt uniform, its eyes glared out red evil as it stuck its arms out at Ash. He aimed the shotgun at the zombie's forehead and fired. The .16 gauge buckshot round took the dome off the zombie's skull, turning part of its brain into black jelly. The thing dropped a second later.

A burst of green fire spewed out of the radio transmitter, followed by a blue flame. The machine was becoming Swiss cheese, with every hole spewing a fiery rainbow of colors. It was getting ready to blow.

_Gotta find the way out_, Ash thought, _Gotta get out, find the others and get out!_

Ash turned towards the stairs and ran up them, Pikachu and Oshawott followed along like they were tethered to their trainer.

**. . .**

_"He's coming, Ash is coming! You sure he would read that message, Pignite? . . . Okay, Okay, calm down! Jeez, you're worse than Oshawott on a bad Saturday night."_

**. . .**

Mark's accuracy hadn't changed, he sank a bolt into every zombie skull coming his way. The group could all agree now that Mark still had most of his mind, though some things failed to come back, like expressing language, emotion. Still, he had commitment, and he was using it to get the group out of harm's way. He pulled a bolt out of a freshly slain zombie's eye and wiped off the blood on its shirt, then load it back into the crossbow.

"Team Rocket," Professor Oak grumbled, "Team Rocket's responsible, but it wasn't like them. Natas said Giovanni and the trio weren't responsible, so who set it all off?"

"I'm just in the dark as you." said Cilan.

"Pansage." Pansage muttered.

"Okay," said Oak, "Let's recap. There's a machine that brought the dead back to life, here in this very facility. This person send an invitation to Ash's friends for a vacation on Faraday Island, while me, Delia, Tracey, and my son got an invite for a research project. As we were brought here, Natas roamed around doing the dirty work for Giovanni's successor, some of the work Natas doesn't like. He wasn't insane, just a loyal servant towards the true person responsible."

"So whoever's in charge ordered Ash killed." said Delia.

"But not completely." Cilan added.

Professor Oak nodded, "Natas paid close attention to Ash, I'd seen him watching Ash as he go perform daily chores at the Pokémon Center. I'd should have known, if he'd done something about it before we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Yet we would never know the source of the zombie's power," Brock pointed out, "_Never_."

"And now Natas had set off planted explosions, meaning that the plan had changed. Its going to destroy the machine, every zombie in the world will drop, and the world would return to a normal state. However the system we all know is gone, probably a lot of Pokémon had died, so Pokémon battling won't come back in some time."

"There's some form of government in Faraday City," said Cilan, "Yet its more like martial law, since Mark's dad is like a benevolent dictator. The city is basically a city-_state_, unless the Faraday province re-establish some form of government or brings back remnants of the old government and add knew folks in."

"To come to think of it," said Iris, "A lot of people hadn't bothered mentioning anything about the Mayor of Carson, or the Governor, back in the Pokémon Center, either if they're still alive or not. When someone does, there wasn't a conversation about it. Why is that?"

"Good question," said Professor Oak, "I'll ask Wally or Emmett when I get the chance, assuming I can get outta here alive with my skin intact."

Mark led them down several corridors, then down a flight of stairs. His Pokémon kept a fixed distance away from him, afraid he might bite. The group pitied the poor Pokémon, they were told that their trainer was going to die. He died, but he still walk among them. Whatever mental processes was taking place in their minds, there was no doubt that their hearts had broke. They don't love him, they _fear _him.

He didn't make much affections towards the either, Mark didn't even look at them once. His emotions were long gone along with his love. But did a tiny spark remain, some remnant of it waiting to explode? So far he show no signs of it, probably never will. At least he still cared in some form, since he saved Ash's mom from falling down a deep hole.

A door swung wide open, everyone drew their guns. They lowered them at ease when Ash walked through. Pikachu and Oshawott were right behind him, trotting up with a rotting stench behind them. Mark and Ash stared at each other, their bodies stiffening into a dead stillness. The other a bit surprise to see the other, yet nonetheless glad in some way.

Ash drew his magnum and handed it to Mark, he nodded, took it and shoved the gun into his holster.

Mark gestured Ash to follow him, he continued leading the group towards the way out. Along the way the hallways became more sinister, the walls seemed to went from plaster to concrete in a split second. Again the group went down another flight of stairs, leading to a hallway of metal bulkhead doors.

"What is this?" Iris asked.

She had her answered when the group approached a dark maw through what was left of a ventilation shaft. Two bloody tendrils snaked out, then a third. Iris screamed when a Snivy came out. It was covered in blood and slime, multiple unnatural tendrils flailed from its back and sides like whips, trying to lash out at anything that it could get a hold of. The Snivy's legs and tail looked like they were sheered off, it was dragging nothing more than a moldy remnant of its colon.

_Grappler_. Ash thought.

The Grappler's red eyes shot at Iris, the thing hissed, sounding like a cross between a banshee and a snake. Ash aimed the double-barrel shotgun at the Grappler and unleashed both shells. The thing exploded in a mass of black congealed blood and horrors, the tendrils broke off at their base and scattered to the floor, still twitching and flailing uncontrollably.

"I want out," screamed Iris as she clutched Axew tight in her arms, her voice boomed down the hall in a mighty echo, "I want out, I want out, I want _out_!"

"AXEW!" sobbed Axew.

The two continued to solve as the group sheepishly passed the remains of the Grappler, its remains bubbling in a primordial soup of death and lead.

"We'll get out," said Brock, "We'll get out of this warehouse, we'll get back to the Westinghouse farm! We're not going to stop until we see the sun again!"

Mark snickered. When he spoke, his voice sounded surreal and unnatural. Alien, with a hint of his former self. It struck everyone – but Ash and his Undead Pokémon – to the core, "We all know how this ends."

The group halted in their tracks, Mark and Ash stopped and looked back at them. They just stared at Mark with disbelief, he just stood there with a smirk on his face, like he was actually _feeling _something.

"You can still talk!?" Professor Oak asked.

"Some words," said Mark, he gestured with his hand like he was spreading out something, "Not all, left brain not working as it used to."

"What did he mean by left brain?" Misty asked.

"The left side of your brain is responsible for language," said Professor Oak, "Most of Mark's still works somehow, while most of Ash's is turned off. Whatever the machine does, it gave some zombies special perks over others."

Delia's groaned, "Everyday's a school day, can we talk about this later and focused getting outta here?"

Without warning, Ash shoved Mark hard in the arm. Mark simply laughed and continued on, the two grunted at each other in a strange zombie speak that the other couldn't understand. It puzzled the group more than it creep them out, they hadn't seen zombies communicate to each other up to this point.

**. . .**

_"He's near, he's actually near! Quick, bang on the door!"_

**. . .**

Bright florescent squiggly lines started showing up, they streak across the floor like someone was dragging a broken glow stick. They started around pen size at first, then beefed up to paintbrush size. Ash was amazed, the deep sky blue lights sparkle and glow with positively charged energy. He could feel it, and it felt good. The feeling, however, also felt familiar, like he had experienced it before. Ash couldn't place his finger on it, then he heard the banging.

The group was running towards the source, yet hadn't commented on it. Ash heard the banging loud and clear, it sounded like Morse code. A cry for help, perhaps?

When they turn the corner, Ash saw where the glowing lines lead up. They all lead up to one of the metal doors, the lines snaked up its face and scribbled every corner of it with their glowing embers. Ash ran up and stopped before it.

"What are you up to, Ash?" Misty asked.

The looks on their faces told Ash the bitter truth, _They couldn't see it, they can't see the lights!_

But Mark saw them, and he was impressed. He reached out and touched one of the slivers, the glowing marks came off easily, crusting on his hands. Pikachu and Oshawott sniffed the glowing embers, getting a little bit on their noses. The glowing embers dissipated within seconds, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

"What are they looking at?" Cilan asked.

Iris reached out and touched the metal door, she yanked her hand away upon contact, "It's cold," she yelped, "Really cold!"

Axew reached out to touch the door, but Iris slapped his hand down. The Tusk Pokémon retreated like a disciplined child, "What's so interesting about the door, guys?" Brock asked Ash and Mark.

_Only one way to find out_. Ash thought.

Ash grabbed the bulkhead door with both hands and twisted it to the left, the heavy latches retracted into the door with a thud. He stepped back and took a deep breath, then pulled the door open. Dust escaped through the widening gap of the bulkhead door, the group stepped back as Ash opened the door all the way, then peaked inside.

_Oh no_, Ash thought, _not you guys too!_

Though it was a common sight in the apocalyptic world, it still strikes a being's soul every time. Ash stepped into the chamber, getting a feel of the massacre inside. Snivy and Pignite sat against the wall, Scraggy laid face down, his legs ripped off from brute force. Whatever happened here, the thing that caused it was dead, Ash looked in the back and found it. It looked like a four-legged Pokémon, something fury with brown fur. Ash nudged the bloody pulp with his foot.

_A Lillipup_, Ash thought, _a Lillipup caused this?_

It wasn't a Lillipup anymore, it didn't even look like one. The teeth were sharper than normal, the fur barley hanging off the dead flesh. The slightest nudge would knock it off. This thing was dead for a while, Ash guessed it was probably a few weeks, the air _feels _that stuffy or something. He wasn't quite sure.

Professor Oak glimpsed inside, then jumped back, "Don't look in there," he gasped, "Whatever you do, don't you dare look in there!"

"What," Misty asked, "What is it?"

"A tomb." Professor Oak simply says.

Then the bodies began to move.

Snivy stirred and looked up at Ash, her sunken glowing green eyes fixated at him with a death stare. The Grass Snake Pokémon – now Undead Grass Snake Pokémon – slowly got back up to her feet. When she tried to take a step, Ash caught her and helped her up.

Pignite flopped over, then opened his eyes. Yes, bright green as well with his hide rotting off the bones. The Undead Fire Pig Pokémon climbed back up to his feet and took a deep breath, thick brackish smoke escapes his lungs, blanketing the air around him in a temporary black fog. Ash shook his head, the deep wounds on Pignite's body was upsetting, but nothing compared to Scraggy.

When he stirred, the Undead Shedding Pokémon flopped his arms like a fish out of water. He let out exasperated groans as he struggled to crawl, Ash reached down and picked him up. He supported Scraggy's heavy head and looked down into his eyes, the Undead Shedding Pokémon almost seemed like he was crying, but he wasn't. This thing, or what was left of him, was too far gone for any help. Scraggy's emotionless green eyes flickered, struggling to get a good glimpse of his trainer in the pitch darkness. No way Scraggy wouldn't have any problems seeing, like all zombies, he had night vision. It was all involuntary twitches, a nervous response, only done by those who were dead.

_He must have died in a lot of pain_, Ash thought, _And his ordeal isn't over, it's just muted_.

Muted, with no feeling. Scraggy took a deep breath as Ash pulled him to his chest. There wasn't much he could do, but built-in habit forced him to tend to his helpless Pokémon. He couldn't help it, Ash was just as helpless as well.

The group gasped as Ash stepped out, seeing how horribly mangled Scraggy was made Axew broke down in tears. He sobbed on Iris's shoulder, unable to bear the realization of the death of his best-friend, "We gotta get outta here, guys," cried Iris as she padded him on the back, "Axew can't take much more of this!"

"Axew ewww!" the Tusk Pokémon sobbed as he shed a storm of tears.

Another explosion rocked the facility, the ceiling lights flickered in a dance room fashion for a few brief seconds. Everyone froze when the lights went out, plunging the hallway into a pitch-black darkness.

"Holy moly," cried Cilan, "That explosion knocked out the facility's power!"

"I can't see," cried Iris, "I can't even see my own hand!"

But Ash could see just fine, to him the world was a mixture of green and black shadows. True night vision. The only thing the survivors saw were probably the glowing eyes of their Undead members. With the disabled Scraggy in his arms, Ash simply started walking down the hall. The rest of his Undead Pokémon followed him, hobbling behind like a train. Mark was right behind them, his crossbow out and ready.

The group noticed they were on the move, "Oh," Misty muttered, "I guess we're following them."

"Their eyes are amazing as they are creepy," said Cilan, "I wonder what makes zombie eyes glow."

Explosions started going off like firecrackers. Ash picked up the pace, another wave of pain stabbed his brain, he fought it back with sheer will as he pushed through. He couldn't quit, not now, it was close. The way out was close!

"Go, go, go!" cried Professor Oak.

Now everybody was running as fast as they can, the group sprint down the hallway as fire started erupting from the vents. Several bulkhead doors burst open, releasing Undead Pokémon. As the monstrosities stepped out of their tombs, the group sped past them. A few spun around, momentary confused, then reorientated themselves a second later. Many of them started chasing after the group, they however ignored them. The threat of the building collapsing on top of their heads was greater than the Undead that infested it. The zombie Pokémon were left in their dust, unable to keep up. The ceiling started falling apart, some of it landed between them and the group. They made a futile effort to claw through the rubble, only to be engulfed by smoke.

"There," cried Brock, "I see the way out!"

Ash smelled a slight trace of Natas's scent, then it was gone as he climbed the steps back to the surface. A blast of sunlight hit him, his vision blurred with a green glare. The glare quickly faded away, revealing the back of the facility. Through the fence and ruins of Carson, Ash could see the pier where he first set foot in the town. All the boats were gone, nothing left but bodies and the gray motionless sea beyond.

"We're out," cried Cilan, "I can't believe it, we're out!"

"Pan pan!" cheered Pansage.

Mark shut the cellar doors and jammed a rusty nail into its handles, not a moment too soon the Undead tried to bash their way out from below. The doors heaved violently as the loud snarling grew angry. Even though the group was out, they were still in danger. The Undead were everywhere, still roaming. Still searching.

"Their had to be a back exit out of the complex." said Brock.

Ash signaled the group to follow him, they complied. He led them towards the side gate he had used to get into the complex. There it was, its doors still swung open as he left it . . .

And the horde was right there, waiting for them.

"More zombies!?" gasped Cilan.

"Pan!?" gasped Pansage.

The zombie horde wasn't as big as it was a few hours ago, but still dangerous nonetheless. They quickly spotted the group and started making their way towards them, slowly blocking the way out.

"I don't think we can fight our way through this!" said Professor Oak.

"I don't have much ammo left," said Brock, "How about you, Cilan?"

"Three bullets," said Cilan, "Iris?"

"One." said Iris.

"I have 5 left." said Misty.

"2 for me." said Delia.

"I'm dry." said Professor Oak.

Ash stepped up and aimed his double-barrel shotgun at the horde, then fired both hammers. The shells unleashed two powerful bird shots, creating a wall of lead that pushed the horde back like a tsunami. Some of the pellets ripped into a few zombie skulls, the rest shredded their limbs and tore up their torsos. They dropped like heavy stones. The zombies behind them tripped over their fallen comrades, and the ones behind them tripped the former.

Then Oshawott stepped up, he breathed in and hurled out a blast of bile at the horde. The bile coated the zombies in an even spray. That was when things got graphic.

The bile confused the zombies by its own chemical makeup, it makes them think whoever was coated with the stuff was potential prey. They began attacking each other at once, zombies claws thrashed, black blood splashed everywhere. The group watched in horror and amazement as the zombies tried to eat and tear each other apart. It was like someone was going through them like a chainsaw, hacking them all apart until they were just rotting piece of beef jerky.

"Smart move, Oshawott!" Cilan praised, looking away from the carnage.

Oshawott didn't care, he just stood there, staring straight out at space.

The group began firing upon the Undead while they were distracted, Ash's shotgun boomed as he hit them with rifled slugs. His friends' shots were brief, they fired their last few rounds, then stepped back and watched as Ash and Mark finished them off. They kept a calm attitude, reloading with ease and continue firing upon them without worry. Heck, why should they worry? They were dead, the zombies couldn't tell who's who at the moment, everybody was fair game to them.

"Look at them go." said Iris as she watched in amazement.

"Axew." awed Axew.

"Emolga!" Emolga cheered for her trainer, then sat back with the rest of Mark's Pokémon, continuing to wonder if their trainer was still _him_.

The horde was cut down in size within minutes, just when Ash took out the last zombie, Pignite stepped up. He sprayed out a fiery blast of Flamethrower, setting ablaze the pile of body parts and crossbow bolts. With that, the group was done.

"That was fast," said Misty, "No glorious final stand?"

"Nope." croaked Mark.

"Okay then," said Brock, he stepped aside and looked out towards the sea, "I guess we should-"

He was cut short when the facility exploded, the blast wave shot past them like a rocket. They all turned around and gasped in horror as the whole building was overwhelmed with fire. The flames reached high up into the sky, belching black smoke towards the noon sun. Then something weird happened.

Ash's Pokémon started loosing their balance, first they drift side to side. They look drowsy, disoriented. When they tried to walk, they collapsed. The group watched in horror as they past out at their feet.

"What is going on here?" Misty asked.

**. . .**

"Holy sh*t," swore Tesla as he saw the fireball, "A gas explosion?"

There was no way to tell, the explosion happened near the coast. Probably a spark set off some built-up methane gas? No, there wasn't any gas lines running through that area. The Pokémon Center Pikachus huddled around Tesla and watched the blaze as he tried to figure out what to do next.

"What the?"

Nearby zombies started dropping like stones, the glow in their eyes dimmed before returning to their pre-zombie states. The zombies who were reanimated in graves stayed down, others who had bite marks still moved. They moaned, like they were in pain. Tesla approached one of them, the other Pikachus stayed close behind him in silence.

The zombie looked like a young lad, he had a necrotic bite wound on his bicep. Tesla's eyes bulge in his goggles as the human's skin slowly went from greenish gray back to a peach healthy color. The zombie held his head up, then muttered, "Was I dead?"

_He's not a zombie anymore_, Tesla thought, _He's cured!_

"Yes," said Tesla, "You were."

"Tesla?" the man muttered.

"Yup, it's me. You remembered what happened in your zombie state?"

"Apparently, yeah," said the man, "It felt like a dream, everything was red . . . I – I gotta get outta here, I gotta get outta here!"

The man tried to get up, but his arms and legs failed him. He collapsed back on the road, groaning in pain.

"How do you feel?" Tesla asked.

"Cold, hungry, weak," the man said, "I feel like sh*t."

"You're not the only one, we're surrounded by others who just turned back. I don't think help's coming."

The man suddenly passed out. Tesla sighed, there was nothing he could do for him. He turned back towards the fireball, whatever exploded over there seemingly ended the zombie apocalypse. The old Pikachu could feel it, he turned to his younger counterparts and asked if they could feel it. They nodded their heads. Yes, it was over. The zombie apocalypse was over. But how, how _was _it over?

"I gotta go check this out," Tesla thought out loud, "I must!"

He would soon later wish he hadn't.

**. . .**

The drowsiness hit Ash hard, he collapsed on the ground as sheer agony gripped his body. He felt like he was shutting down, everything felt like it was shutting down. Ash tried to move, but his muscles were stiffening up. They were shutting down as rigor mortis took over.

_I'm dying_, Ash though, _So this is what death really feels like when it's your time_?

Seemed like it, if it wasn't then it was close enough. Ash turned his head towards Pikachu, fighting against his stiffening muscles. The Mouse Pokémon laid face down on the ground, motionless. He shot out an arm, the joints popped and cracked as he wrapped it around his best friend. Ash pulled him close, once he had Pikachu hugged in close. Ash let himself go.

Darkness returned to him once more.

**TO BE CONTINUED . . .**


	54. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Notice: For news and updates about my stories, go to my profile**

_Epilogue_

Seeing Ash and Mark collapse to the ground was a major shock, though it technically wasn't a surprise. They knew the machine that reanimates the dead was destroyed, but it also was responsible for Ash and Mark's reanimation. So within seconds of the explosion, they simply dropped where they stood. Their friends stood there, frozen in shock for a few seconds. Finally Professor Oak got down to his knees and pressed two of his fingers on Ash's neck, then Pikachu's.

"Dead," said Professor Oak, "What am I thinking? They were already dead anyway."

He tried to move Ash's arm off of Pikachu. The arm was locked in place, it wasn't moving a millimeter.

Cilan shook his head in sorrow, "He's gone, this time for good."

Delia got down and pushed Professor Oak away, she felt around Ash's neck to see for herself. She sat there for a moment, trying to process it all in. Then she hugged Professor Oak and cried into his shoulder, "Ash," she sobbed, "No."

"He wasn't in pain, Delia," said Oak, "He didn't feel a thing."

Delia sat up and shoved Professor Oak aside, "Of course he didn't, Sam! He was Undead," she looked back at the body, then glance back up at the fireball. The fires had died down to small embers of a burned out husk of a building, the air was silent except the small clanking of debris that crashed around them, "What I don't understand is how!"

Without warning, Mark groaned. Professor Oak shot back and watched as Mark sat up, his face was still pale but his eyes were back to normal. He gave the group a sluggish look and breathed, "I'm so glad that's over."

Mark's Pokémon dashed towards him and wrapped their tiny arms around his chest and waist, "Emolga!" his Sky Squirrel Pokémon happily cried.

"Pikachu!" cried Mark's Pikachu.

"Plusle/ Minun!" cried the Cheering Pokémon duo.

"I'm sorry you have to go through that, girls," said Mark as he petted every one of his Pokémon, "I'm so sorry you guys."

The group was flabbergasted, did he just came back full time?

"Mark?" Delia asked in shock.

Mark's Pokémon settled down as he sighed, "I know guys, I remember everything. It was a bad time, but I powered through it."

Snivy and Pignite stirred, they moaned in pain as they lift up their heads. Their eyes were still sunken in from sadness, yet they were lively again, "Sniv?" she muttered.

"They're alive!" cried Iris.

"Axew!?" cried the Tusk Pokémon.

Sadly, Scraggy, Oshawott, and Pikachu lay dormant. Professor Oak checked their pulses and confirmed it. Axew jumped down and hobbled up to Scraggy's body, he slapped the Shedding Pokémon's shoulder in trying to wake him. No good, his best friend was gone. Iris pulled Axew away from him just as he started crying, she stepped aside for a moment to soothe him as the rest of the group tried to sort it out."

"I don't understand." Delia repeated as she glanced back to Ash.

"Here's what went down," said Mark as he stretched his arms, "Pignite, Snivy, and me succumbed to our bites, but Ash and Pikachu died from a gunshot wound while Scraggy here," he made a quick glanced at Scraggy's leg stumps, "died from blood loss. Their deaths were natural, so they stay dead when that cursed radio transmitter exploded. My theory is that those were the rules, I was conscious the whole time when I turned."

"You were?" everyone asked.

"The infection paralyzed me, I dropped like a stone. I heard Ash and my Pokémon panicked back at the bridge, Ash told Pikachu and my Pokémon to bail out. My Pokémon reluctantly agreed, and so did Pikachu at first. But he came back, or it sounded like it when I heard him ran past be a 2nd time. I tried to move and call out to him, but I can't. Not only were my skeletal muscles weren't moving, I couldn't even breathe either. I last I heard were two gunshots, and Ash crying between them."

"Was it Natas who shot Ash?" Delia asked.

"Had to be, I heard him say, 'Friendship's don't last forever'."

Cilan slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, "That traitor!"

"Pansage!" swore Pansage as he held up a clenched fist.

"He was long gone by the time I regained movement," Mark continued, "By then I was Undead, or it felt like it. I couldn't feel any emotions, nothing at all. I didn't feel love, hate, not even the warm fuzzy feeling when I saw my Pokémon again. Just nothing. But I still cared, it was built into me. Even though I can't feel, I _still _cared because it was a habit. Ash and Pikachu took shelter up on the roof, so I went straight up there. I found Ash laying on his back with his arms and legs spread out, Pikachu laid beside him in a fetal position. Both were surrounded in a pool of blood so large that it took up most of the gravel roof. I checked their wounds, they were gone. No way Ash could have survived his shot, it blasted out part of his heart. Pikachu might survived his shot, but no. He only spent his last few minutes of life in pain before he died. I heard him cry, I still hear them . . ."

He shook his head drearily and looked up at Delia, "I simply gathered up my crossbow and the bolts, then left him there. I was worried Natas might come after you next, I guess I was right."

"Thank you for saving me when I fell through the floor." said Delia.

"You don't need to repay me, just keeping my Pokémon safe is enough for me."

"Emo." cooed Emolga as he pressed her head against his chest.

Mark held up his arm, the bandage wrapping his zombie bite was black. He pulled off the bandage and looked underneath it, the necrosis was gone but it looked like it got infected, "I'm not out of the woods yet," said Mark, "I feel like I'm going to drop guys, I really do. I got a staph infection."

"We gotta get you to the Pokémon Center at Faraday Island." said Professor Oak.

"Screw the Pokémon Center, I got some penicillin and healing herbs stashed at home. Besides, the Pokémon Center would be overwhelmed with former zombies who changed back. The zombie outbreak is done, I just wanna go home. I need to talk to my Dad, I-"

"You guys okay!?" Tesla's voice cut Mark off.

Everyone turned and saw the old Pikachu running towards them, the Pokémon Center Pikachus following not far behind him, "What just-"

Tesla stopped when he saw Ash's rotted corpse.

"Don't get near him, Tesla," Mark warmed, "Don't get f*cking near him!"

The old Pikachu's eyes bulged, he screeched to a halt and dropped to his knees, "No," he cried, "No, no, no, no! This can't be, he can't be!"

"Tesla?" Mark called out to him.

"He shouldn't have, he shouldn't be. He shouldn't have, had . . . What is the deal!?"

The group realized Tesla hadn't got the news that Ash had died and turned, then died again. He couldn't understand what was happening, as he put all of his efforts and skills to making sure Ash would survive. He gave him the modified Pokédex and taught his Pokémon how to hold their cool. Not to mention Ash saved him more than once, one of the saves cost the old Pikachu his tail.

"Why," Tesla asked the sky, "Why? He's just a boy, not even old enough to drive yet! First I lost my immediate family, then I lost my friends and trainer! Then Ash is gone!?"

Hot tears pooled in Tesla's goggles, he tore them off and threw them to the side. The goggles clattered on the dirt road for 20 meters before stopping, "He, he . . ."

Tesla panted as collapsed on his back, Mark's Pikachu rushed up to him and helped him up. The old Pikachu's mouth was wide open as he gasped for air, "He's hyperventilating," said Mark, "Guys, we have to go now!"

"We can't walk back to Faraday City!" cried Iris.

"I'll jury rig a car, but somebody else is driving!"

"What about Ash?" Delia asked.

"We'll bring his and his Pokémon's bodies, we're not going to leave them to the elements like we did to the others."

**. . . **

Mark managed to find a pickup truck to hot-wire. It had a sky blue paint job with silver sidings, Mark smashed the window and climbed inside. He simply pressed his foot on the break, then pressed the start button. The dashboard lit up.

"There," he said, "Oak, you take over."

"Why me?" he asked.

"Cause you seemed to keep your cool compared to everyone else."

True, Professor Oak managed to keep his feelings under control, old age mellowed his nerves that they could handle pretty much anything. Oak got behind the wheel as the others carried Ash's body into the back. They sat Oshawott and Scraggy beside him while Pikachu remained clamped in Ash's arms. Mark got behind the passenger seat while everyone else hopped in the back with the bodies, he looked up at the sky and saw it had changed back from red to an orange haze. Strange, would the sky ever turn back to its pure blue color?

As they drove out of Carson, they past by hundreds of people. They were covered in bites and grotesque injuries, sick and tired, they wander around with blank stares. Seemingly looking for something. Bodies covered the roads, all in different stages of decomposition. Professor Oak had no choice but to drive over some of them just to get through. The former zombies looked on as the group drove past, the injured stared at them for a few seconds before wandering off again.

The drive through the forest was horrifying. There wasn't much of a forest left, it was all burned down. Nothing left but charred poles and cooked dirt. Nobody said a word about returning to the Westinghouse Farm. They didn't need to. Faraday City's _de facto _government had announced on the radio that the zombie apocalypse was not only over for the Island, but all over the world. Elections for a new mayor and city council would begin within a month from now. Martial law was still in effect, as bandits were still on the prowl.

Governor Norman had surprisingly survived the zombie apocalypse, after a month of silence he finally stepped back into the spotlight and announced his whereabouts. He had news of what was going on in the world, it sounded like ancient times again. There was major fighting in Unova, Kanto, Johto, and Kalos, dissidents had taken arms in trying to overthrow what was left of the legitimate government so they can instil a crude dictatorship. The military had pushed them back, and were winning, says the Governor. The island regions of Hoenn and Sinnoh managed to maintain peace, yet martial law was still in effect there. In every forest in the world, it was said that they were devoid of most Pokémon life. Those who were Undead had changed back, but they were badly hurt. Most of these Pokémon would die within three days, those who managed to survive would be long gone in 3 weeks. The only Pokémon who were still live and kicking were those who were under human captivity, and they weren't fairing any better than the humans.

When the group approached Faraday City, they stopped at a checkpoint. The guard noticed Mark in the passenger seat, and let him past. Mark then instructed Professor Oak where his house was. They soon pulled up on the curve and got out, "Carry the bodies into the backyard," Mark instructed, "Before we do anything, we rest. I'll get the power back on and we can all have a nice shower."

Mark placed his thumb over the biometric lock and the light clicked green, when he opened it he took a deep breath of stale air. The house was warm, but nothing was taken. It was how he left it a month ago. Mark kicked off his boots and went to the utility closet, after flipping the main power breaker on he started up the AC and heard it rumble to life. He then head upstairs into the bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet. There it was, the familiar black penicillin bottle. He downed a couple of tablets and turned the knob at the sink. Clear water poured out. Mark turned it off and pulled off all his clothes and bulletproof vest, then stepped into the shower. The shower was cold, but he didn't care. It was great to feel human again after a whole day of being a zombie. Mark washed his hair and body thoroughly and cleaned up the bite, after 3 minutes he stepped out and wrapped gauze around the wound before drying himself off.

He dumped his dirty laundry in the basket and carried the body armor into his room naked, Mark dropped it on the floor and opened up the dresser, clean laundry awaited him. He put on a fresh tank top, boxers, blue jeans, and socks. One he got his belt on, Mark head back downstairs. The rest of the group were sitting on the couch, fiddling around with the TV. The Emergency Broadcast System was still going, a tired and rundown Governor Norman was making his announcements on every channel trying to get as much information he knew out to his people. Mark glanced over at his surge protector that was hooked up to his TV, it was running quite fine, no rouge sparks or anything. It felt like a lifetime ago when he first put it together under the blue glow of his TV.

The Pokémon Center Pikachus were huddled in the back, sleeping on the bare floor. The poor things were tired, very tired. After so much horror they went through, they would be having bad dreams for years to come. His own Pokémon sat on the couch on Cilan and Brock's laps, sleeping the rest of the day away. Tesla laid on Delia's lap, he wasn't really sleeping, his eyes were partially open as he stared out of the blurry world. Mark wondered if anybody bothered to retrieve Tesla's eye goggles, probably not. No matter, there was a box filled with spares in the utility closet somewhere. He couldn't help but see how Tesla looked more like a normal Pikachu without his goggles, that normal image was ruined as his tail was gone. All that stress the old Mouse Pokémon built up was finally coming down on him with vengence.

"There's water pressure," Mark told the group, "Everybody's got 3 minutes, if you want you can used my washing machine to clean your clothes."

"Thanks, Mark." said Misty.

Iris went up first, carrying Axew in her arms. Mark then went to his father's bedroom and pulled out a spare CB radio from his bed, he hooked it up to the wall and turned the channel to the frequency his father always used.

**. . .**

"What do you mean they all just dropped!?" Kissinger spoke on the radio.

"They all just dropped," said Adrian, "Like a stone!"

"So is it over?"

"The Governor on the TV says so, I guess we could start rebuilding now."

"Very well, let's round up all the engineers and construction workers and start cleaning up this mess. Keep me posted. Out."

Kissinger held the receiver for a moment, trying to process what had occurred. So all of the zombies either dropped or changed back? Was the apocalypse over? Will Faraday Island get back to normal? As far as Kissinger could tell, his police force was the _de facto _government of the city. The mayor was dead, and he wasn't sure if other members of the city counsel would turn up. At least there would be elections, probably they would select engineers instead of politicians. Make sense since the infrastructure needs to be worked on. It was a surprise that the water treatment plant came back online, now there was fresh water running through the taps again. Emmett considered taking a shower when he had the time.

"Kissinger," his son's voice echoed out of the radio, "This is Junior, over."

Kissinger paused for a moment before answering, "Son?"

"Hi Dad." said Mark.

"Are you alright?"

"No.I need you and grandpa to come home right now, its urgent."

"What happened?"

"I can't explain it on the radio, its best I told you and Grandpa in person. I need you here, _now_!"

There was urgency in Mark's voice, what was going on?

"Okay, son. I'm coming."

"Bring Grandpa, out."

Kissinger placed the receiver back on the hook and went to find Matt, he was in the lobby reading a construction manual, "Dad," said Kissinger, "Mark's at my house, he needs us."

"How's the boy?" he asked.

"I don't know, he said he wasn't doing to well on the radio. Something happened, we need to go right now."

Matt dropped the construction manual back on the table and got up, "Lead the way."

Kissinger told his secretary to take over for a moment, then he and his father ran out into the parking lot. They hopped into a police cruiser, turned on the emergency lights, and sped off towards home. As he drove through the city, he saw people and Pokémon emerging from the skyscrapers out into the sidewalk. A few stores were even reopening as shopkeepers pulled the boards off their windows and turned on their OPEN signs. Everybody steered clear when he passed by, a few folks even waved at him.

When he drove into the suburbs, returning residence were opening their houses up. They were either mowing their lawns or cleaning the insides of their house. One man was washing the blood off his car with a garden hose. It looked like normality was returning to the city, though it would be a while when things were really considered normal again.

Kissinger and Matt drove up towards their house, they saw a pickup truck they don't recognized parked on the curb. Mark stood at the door, holding a double-barreled shotgun. He waved them up the driveway as they pulled in, Kissinger noticed Mark's arm was wrapped up with fresh gauze. He soon feared the worse.

"Oh boy," said Matt, "I wonder what he was doing this whole time."

The two got out and approached Mark, they saw his skin was pale and seemed weak. But he stood there with sheer strength, showing no sign of passing out, "Mark!" Kissinger said as he hugged his son, he smelled like he had just taken a shower.

"Hey, Dad," greeted Mark, "Glad you could make it back."

"What happened?" Kissinger asked.

"What happened to your arm?" Matt asked.

Mark sighed, "Chaos happened, it's a long story but the important fact is that it ended with the Undead dropping."

"What happened to your arm?" Matt asked again.

"Walker got me, bit a chunk off of me and made my Pokémon cry."

Kissinger's blood froze, "Did you turn?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad, and I changed back. I already taken antibiotics, I'll survive."

"What about the others?"

"Their inside, some of them are . . . in the back. Here, I have something to show you. Come with me."

Mark lead his father and grandfather around the house towards the back. Laying on the back patio was 4 bodies, covered in bright white sheets. One of them was human, the other three appeared Pokémon. A Snivy and Pignite hovered over the human body, they were covered in bruises and bloody bandages. They pressed their heads on the body and mourned, crying softly.

"Ash's dead," said Mark, "He's gone."

"What happened to him?"

"He got bit, same time I got bit. But he didn't die from it, a guy named Luke Natas murdered him along with his Pokémon. They all turned, but they kept their brains somehow. I managed to keep my conscious when I was Undead, I can tell you its not an experience I wanna live through again."

"How did you change back while the others . . . dropped?"

"I got bit, not shot or bled out. It's a long story, Dad, Ash's friends are inside, including his mom."

The three walked past the bodies and mourning Pokémon and opened the back door, the group were sitting on the couch when they walked inside. A woman holding a Pikachu in her arms looked up, Kissinger could already tell this was Ash's mom.

"Mrs. Ketchum," said Emmett as he stuck out his hand, "I'm Emmett Kissinger, Chief of Police of Faraday City. I'm Mark's Dad."

Mrs. Ketchum shook Kissinger's hand, "Delia, Ash's mom."

"I'm sorry for what happened."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, my son was already long gone. It just took a while for him too . . ." her voice trailed off as she glanced at the Pikachu on her lap, "Tesla didn't get the news until a few hours ago, he just simply gave up."

Matt stepped up, "I'm Matt, Emmett's father. I'm Tesla's caretaker and his trainer's close friend. What happened?"

"Two nights ago Ash saved Tesla again, zombie bit him on the tail so he amputated it with a fire ax. Saved his life."

"Again." Mark added.

Delia handed Tesla to Matt and he held him up to eye level, "Tesla, it's me. Matt."

Tesla didn't respond, his sunken eyes just stared back at Matt with no emotion. Matt sighed and pressed Tesla's head against his shoulder, "I hadn't seen this since Irvin's death, I don't think Tesla would recover from this."

"He was unresponsive?" Brock asked.

"He just holed up in Irvin's bedroom and sat there for a long time, and then he was gone overnight."

"Team Rocket killed 'im," Tesla muttered, "The bastards caused it."

"What?" Matt asked.

"Bastards."

**. . .**

It took two hours for Mark to explain what happened, everyone sat quietly with the blinds drawn and the TV muted. Kissinger and Matt listened quietly to every word. Mark was a good story-teller, and he told his stories well. When the stories were non-fiction, his grammar was even better. He didn't stutter or slip a word, Mark's words came out in a flow as if he had rehearsed them many times before.

Kissinger took a moment and processed what he heard, then turned back to the group, "So Team Rocket was responsible."

"Not all of their members are," said Brock, "Jessie and James weren't involve, they had no clue about it."

"Okay," said Kissinger, "What about Natas?"

"Just a pawn, his death won't change anything."

Matt rubbed Tesla's ears and nodded, "The zombies will come back."

That was a statement, "Yes," said Mark, "And when they do, they're going to bring in a twist."

"Meaning?" Cilan asked.

"When the zombies come back," he explained, "people will act on it quickly. They won't have a chance, even if people die and turn. The Undead would be under control and society will come back. If Team Rocket is going to bring back the zombies, they're going to need to back them up with something. Something stronger than a radio transmitter."

"Like what?" Misty asked.

"A specialized cognitive radio wave was used to reactivate dead brains, but not completely. It requires a total of fifty-thousand amps of power to work a simple broadcast station for mind control, Team Rocket is known to have that capability."

"Right," said Professor Oak, "But why did Team Rocket built their broadcast station on Faraday Island?"

"Faraday Island produces more power than any region in the world, we use more energy here in one day than the world uses in a year. Half of our energy is received by the sun, wind, and geothermal heat, the populace uses that one half."

"What about the other half?" Iris asked.

"The other half is generated by water from the ocean, it is desalinated with a specialized solar-still at the heart of Faraday Island. This still then pumps the water into the Hydrogen Power Plant where it is used for Faraday Island's industrial sectors. The water goes under an electrolysis process with energy produced by the power plant's own solar panels and wind turbines, these panels and turbines are the most efficient in the world, and they are _very _expensive."

"Wow." said Cilan.

Mark nodded, "Indeed it is that amazing."

"So what is the Hydrogen used for?" Iris asked.

"Axew?" the Tusk Pokémon asked as well.

"The Hydrogen is heated up, then an electric charge is sent through it. This turns the gas into plasma, the forth state of matter. We all know it as lighting from the skies and electric Pokémon, and also from our own sun. This plasma is contained within special electromagnets as it is sent down through pipes, towards a nuclear _fusion _reactor."

"A nuclear reactor?" Delia asked.

"Yes, but not the fission kind with the dangerous Uranium. This nuclear reactor is clean. It is three times the size of City Hall and has more copper coils than your average copper mine in Kanto. The plasma Hydrogen gas is injected into the reactor where the electromagnets speed it up towards 99.9 percent the speed of light, then the tiny particles is smashed together to create Helium. Massive energy is released, and fusion has occurred."

"Unbelievable!" cried Cilan.

Mark grinned, "One trillion dollars unbelievable, that's for damn sure."

"So what does the plant have to do with the zombie apocalypse?" Kissinger asked.

"I'll show you."

Mark got up and head to a bookshelf, he rummage through the books and binders for a few seconds before pulling out a large map, "While I was a zombie, I did some figuring. I knew the network of the Hydrogen Power Plant runs to every town and city in Faraday Island except Faraday City. The plant itself is isolated, built up high in the mountains, surrounded by thick forests. The Undead shouldn't have infested the place, no way a zombie or a massive horde could climb through those mountains and attack. The entire island should still have power."

"So what went wrong?" Cilan asked.

Mark unfolded the map, everyone leaned over it. It was a map of Faraday Island, but it wasn't a political map. It was an engineering map. The map showed the routes of the power and water lines throughout the Island, clustering up around human settlements. The Faraday Hydrogen Power Plant sits in the center, spreading out its power networks like a web. Notably not a single line goes to Faraday City, as it produced its own power.

"Look right here," said Mark as he traced the power lines from the plant towards Carson, "Carson is a major port, but it also specializes in high-tech electronics. It also specialize in radio equipment. The facility Natas led everyone happened to be in the center of Carson's industrial sector. The machine that reanimates the zombies require a lot of power that no power plant in the world could produce it, and the machine had help as well."

"What kind of help?" Brock asked.

"The Hydrogen Power plant produces so much power that its stored in huge superstructure batteries. These batteries are as big as a freight ship and can store up to millions of amps, those batteries are quite expensive but maintaining them is low. Thanks to research into specialized carbon-fiber that contain the acid more corrosive than the acid in metal-plating vats. They store the excess power during the day, then use that power to light up Faraday Island's outdoor lamps and keep the supercomputers running. These batteries are built deep into the towns, most of them are small in terms of dimensions. Say two superstore sizes. However, the biggest battery happens to be . . ."

Mark paused and pointed at Carson, "Here, that holds the most power because Carson's energy needs mostly goes to its local industries. Guess where that battery sits."

Cilan looked closely, "Not that far from the machine."

"Exactly," said Mark, "That machine was feeding off the battery like a parasite from the day it first started up, while I was working on that surge protector right there and Dad investigating a homicide. So when the machine started eating the electricity, the dead started coming to life and eating the flesh of the Living."

"But it wasn't enough." said Matt.

"The power grid is maintained by a network of computers, these computers make sure the system doesn't go on the fritz. No virus could penetrate their firewalls, its impossible. Team Rocket knows this since they managed to hook their big machine to the Hydrogen Power Plant's network. The only way for them to do that was it had to be an inside job. Loyal engineers serving as sleepers for the corporation. So when started getting chaotic in the first three days, they shut down the grid but not the power plant. We all thought the power plant was lost, but it was just an excuse. Team Rocket had complete control over it, they infested the area with zombies just to make the excuse believable."

"So they shut down the grid and divert all of the power towards the radio transmitter in Carson," said Cilan, "Right under the authority's noses."

"Faraday Island's police force should have picked it up, but the budget cuts made sure they didn't. Inspectors got sloppy, cops skimp on their duties because they were underpaid. That was six months ago."

"Why?" Professor Oak asked.

The group went silent for a moment, then Kissinger sighed, "Tesla," he said, "Tesla got pardoned, so we don't need a big police force chasing him anymore. He was quite the troublemaker, helped a lot of cops earn a living in keeping the peace. So when Tesla got pardon, the provincial police force got cut back. Whatever Team Rocket was planning, they were planning it for a long time. So when the force got cut up, they moved in and got to work."

"You gotta be kidding me," said Professor Oak, "how do you know all this?"

Mark grabbed his backpack and opened it, he pulled out a cache of documents and dumped them on the map. The new Team Rocket logo covered every single one, "While I was in that facility, I was digging up some intelligence. I was going with my gut – no pun intended – As soon as I stepped into the abyss of the facility, I knew it was responsible. Natas was all over the place, in the security room, the secret labs and cells, everywhere. All I did was open a few drawers and look for the goodies, I found them. Team Rocket didn't bother covering up their tracks, they left their records for somebody to find. It's all right there, the plans, the memos, and on top of it all it started with the assassination of the Team Rocket leader Giovanni. The assassin simply seceded him and that sealed Team Rocket's fate."

"So what did Natas do," Brock asked, "What's his purpose?"

"I don't know," said Mark, "I have skimmed through the files and not seen Ash's name come up, not even a reference of him. All I know was that this new Team Rocket leader wanted Ash for something, so he had Natas sit by the side-lines, keeping an eye on him. So when we left the Pokémon Center, he followed us. Seeing that he got bit, Natas killed Pikachu _first_ before killing Ash. That I know without a doubt. It was like he wanted Ash to understand a point before he pulled the switch on him."

"But, why?" Misty asked.

"Because Natas was ordered to do so, he didn't wanna do it. He was just following orders, and sure enough this new Team Rocket leader got him killed once he was done with him."

"The fact that you still had your minds with green glowing eyes is probably a clue," said Cilan, "Why was it you, Ash, Pikachu, and Oshawott have such a state."

"I have a good guess," said Mark, "Though I don't feel anything, not even pain, I do feel like something that needs to get done. I felt the urge to save you guys from Natas."

"Which led you to the warehouse and finding all this." said Delia.

"I have a name for this kind of zombie, I call them reverents. Those who died come back to complete a certain purpose before going back, or something from the horror films that should stay there. I don't know what to make of it, but that's what I would call them."

"Okay," said Kissinger, "Team Rocket built the machine on Faraday Island, then hijacked the power grid to run it. If this machine is just a prototype to the real thing . . ."

"Maybe they don't need a machine," said Mark, "All they need is something else to turn dead brains back on."

"Like, what?"

"I think we're going to find out soon, this isn't the end of it. This is just the beginning."

The back door opened and Snivy and Pignite stepped in, the door closed behind them as they wondered into the living room. The Pokémon Center Pikachus emerge from the back of the couch and greeted them, Snivy sat down against the wall as Pignite laid down on his back. Before Kissinger could say anything, Mark added, "Tesla brought them, they have nowhere else to go."

One of the Pikachu's hugged Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon hugged it back and rested her head on its shoulder, "What are we going to do with Ash's remaining Pokémon?" Kissinger asked.

"I could take them in," said Professor Oak, "But I'm not sure what to do, I don't think I'm going home anytime soon."

"If there's a home to go back to," said Iris, "My town is isolated, but it could be too dangerous to go back to Unova."

"Axew." Axew added.

"Well, a lot of homes will probably go on the market. You can move into some of them for the time being, until we could plan something out."

"They would have to clear them out first," said Mark, "I don't want to see their insides at the moment."

Emolga hopped up on Mark's lap and rubbed her head into his side, Mark wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in, "We'll think of something." he says as he rubbed her ears.

Rotor blades started buffering outside, the sound grew louder and louder until it sounded like it was coming from outside. All the Pokémon, including Tesla, held their heads up. The look on their faces told everyone that something was up.

"That doesn't sound like police helicopters," said Matt, "Not even militarycraft."

"What does it sound like?" Kissinger asked.

"Vertibirds," said Mark, "Vertical take-off and landing aircraft, their engines are muted but there weren't any stationed here."

Something heavy dropped in the backyard, followed by some shuffling and shouts. Seconds later, the shuffling and shouting ceased and the rotor blades slowly faded away.

"What the . . ." Mark said.

The group got up and ran to the back door, Mark yanked it open and the group stepped out. Ash's body was gone, so were his Pikachu, Oshawott, and Scraggy. There were deep impressions in the soil, something rectangular-shaped. The group looked over to the horizon and saw an osprey flying off, the red R painted on the tail wing gave the owners away.

"Look's like Team Rocket made a move," said Mark, "Whatever they're trying to pull, they're pulling it now."

The air raid sirens started sounding, screaming across the landscape under the orange apocalyptic sky. Kissinger felt his face freeze, the Undead nightmare wasn't really over. It was just the start of something more.

**THE END!**


End file.
